AMERICAN    TEACHERS   SERIES 

EDITED   BY 

JAMES   E.  RUSSELL,  Ph.D. 

DEAN   OF   TEACHERS    COLLEGE,    COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY 


THE 

TEACHING    OF   ENGLISH    IN    THE   ELEMENTARY 
AND   THE   SECONDARY   SCHOOL 

BY 

GEORGE    R.   CARPENTER 
FRANKLIN    T.   BAKER 

AND 

FRED    N.  SCOTT 


American  Cearfter^  ^tvic^ 


The    Teaching    of   English    in 

the  Elementary  and  the 

Secondary  School 


BY 

GEORGE   R.  CARPENTER,  A.B. 

AND 

FRANKLIN   T.  BAKER,  A.M. 

PROFESSORS   IN    COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY 
AND 

FRED   N.  SCOTT,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   IN   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    MICHIGAN 


LONGMANS,   GREEN,   AND    CO. 

91  AND  93  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 

LONDON  AND   BOMBAY 

1903 


(L^ 


Copyright,  1903, 

By  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co. 


JOHN  WU.ION 
ANO     bO.-.      •      CAMBRIDGE,    V.  5.    ,\ 


Preface 


In  our  opinion,  the  teaching  of  English  is  still  in  an  imperfect 
state  of  development.     Its  aim,  its  scope,  its  subject-matter,  its 
method  are  still  to  be  clearly  defined  and  determined.     The 
earnest  discussion  of  the  teaching  of  English  within  the  last 
quarter-century  has,  however,  made  it  necessary  to  have  a  suc- 
cinct statement  of  the  issues  in  question  and  a  careful  summary 
of  the  most  sound  opinions  regarding  them.     Such  a  statement 
and  such  a  summary  we  have  tried  to  present,  for  the  informa- 
tion and  guidance  of  the  novice,  and  as  a  convenient  book  of 
reference  for  the  experienced  instructor.    It  is  only,  we  believe, 
by  sympathetic  cooperation  and  by  careful  discussion  and  inves- 
tigation that  the  very  pressing  problems  relating  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  our  youth  in  their  mother-tongue  can  be  solved.     ^Ve 
have  therefore  endeavored  to  avoid  eccentric,  dogmatic,  and 
personal  opinions,  and  to  present  the  subject  in  as  many  of  its 
important  aspects  as  possible,  helping  the  reader  to  see  the 
reasonable  differences  of  method  and  theory,  and  urging  him 
to  weigh  the  arguments  on  both  sides  of  all  doubtful  ques- 
tions.    Throughout  the  book  we  have   had  in  mind,  not  the 
best  schools  nor  the  worst,  but  rather  the  great  majority  of 
schools,  whose  excellencies  and  defects  alike  make  them  repre- 
sentative.    Each  writer  is  directly  responsible  for  his  own  part 
of  the  volume,  but  each  has  so  modified  his  work  by  frequent 
conference  with  the  others  that  the  opinions  of  one  are,  in  gen- 
eral, the  opinions  of  all. 

G.  R.  C. 

F.  T.  B. 

March,  1903.  F.  N.  S. 


?  1  f<  R  O  >' 


Contents 


I 

HISTORY   AND    METHOD 
Chapter  Page 

I.    The  Study  of  the   Mother-Tongue 

G.  R.  Carpenter  3 

I.    Latin  and  the  Vernaculars 5 

II.    The  Teaching  of  the  Vernaculars  in  Europe    .  26 

l/lll.   The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  United  States  y] 
IV.   The    General    Theory   of    Instruction    in    the 

Mother-Tongue S- 

II.    English  IN  Elementary  Education  .     F.T.Baker  67 

I.   General  Conditions 68 

'.■/         II.   The  Place  of  English  in  the  Lower  Grades       .  75 

.Vfp-^.      III.    Primary  Reading  Matter 81 

yOj         \M.   The  Beginnings  of  Reading 98 

Composition  in  Elementary  Schools  .     .     .     .  121 

VI.    Enghsh  Grammar  in  the  Elementary  Schools  .  144 

VII.    Spelling 152 

VIII.    Literature  in  the  Elementary  Schools      ...  155 

III.   English  in  Secondary  Education: 

Part  I.  Language G.  R.  Carpenter  188 

I.    Language:  Grammar 19° 

II.    Language :  Old  and  Middle  English  .  215 

.«___,-c==-H4.    Language:  Rhetoric  and  Composition  218 

IV.    Language :  Oral  Composition    .     .     .  244 
Part  II.  Literatureinthe  Secondary  Schools 

F.  T.  Baker  250 

^Part  III.  College  Entrance  Requirements  in 

English    .     .     .     .    G.  R.  Carpenter  283 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 


^ 


Chapter  Page 

1/IV.    The  Course  of  Study F.  T.  Baker  293 

I.    General  Principles 293 

II.    The  Elementary  Schools 296 

III.   The  Secondary  Schools 300 

II 

THE    TEACHER    AND    HIS    TRAINING.     F.  N.  Scott 

t'V.    The  Training  of  the  Teacher 305 

I.    General  Qualifications 308 

II.    Special  Qualifications 314 

Vl.    The  Philosophy  of  the  Assigna.ent      ....  319 

*VII.    Essay-Correcting 327 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 345 

INDEX 377 

APPENDIX 381 


I 

History  and  Method 


II 


CHAPTER   I 

THE   STUDY   OF   THE    MOTHER-TONGUE 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  On  the  rise  of  literature  in  the  vernaculars,  see  the  standard  histories 
of  the  English,  French,  German,  and  Italian  hteratures.  On  the  rise 
of  the  vernacular  in  education,  see 

C.  S.  Parker.  On  the  History  of  Classical  Education.  In  Essays  on 
a  Liberal  Education,  edited  by  F.  W.  Farrar.     Macmillan.     1867. 

R.  H.  Quick.     Educational  Reformers.     Appleton.     1893. 

G.  Compayre.     The  History  of  Pedagogy.     D.  C.  Heath.     1S86. 

G.  Compayre.  Histoire  critique  des  Doctrmes  de  I'Education  en 
France  depuis  la  seizieme  Siecle.     1885. 

On  the  degree  of  disciplme  received  through  the  study  of  Latin  and 

Greek,  see 

C.  E.  Bennett  and  G.  P.  Bristol.  The  Teaching  of  Latin  and 
Greek  in  the  Secondary  School.  Longmans.  1901.  Especially 
Chapter  I.  and  the  accompanying  bibliography. 

II.  On  the  present  position  of  the  mother-tongue  in  modern  secondary 
education  in  Europe,  see 

J.  E.  Russell.     German  Higher  Schools.     Longmans.     1899. 
F.  E.  Bolton.     Secondary  School  System  of  Germany.     Appleton. 
1900. 

0.  Greard.  Education  et  Instruction.  Enseignement  secondaire. 
1889.     Especially  Vol.  II.  pp.  i-i6o. 

J.  Texte.  Teaching  Language  and  Literature  in  France.  Educa- 
tional Review,  XIII.  121. 

1.  Carr6.  L'Enseignement  de  la  Lecture,  de  I'ficriture  et  de  la 
Langue  fran9aise  dans  les  Ecoles  primaires.  In  Recueil  des  Mono- 
graphies  pedagogiques  publiees  a  I'Occasion  de  I'Exposition  uni- 
verselle  de  1889.     1889.     Vol.  IV.  pp.  1-71, 

Plan  d'Etudes  et  Programmes  de  I'Enseignement  secondaire 
classique.  1900. 
F.  H.  Dale.  The  Teaching  of  the  Mother-Tongue  in  Germany.  In 
(English  Government)  Report  from  Commissioners,  Inspectors, 
and  others.  1897.  Vol.  (XI.)  XXV.  Also  printed  in  Educational 
Department.  S,Decial  Reports  on  Educational  Subjects.  Vol.  I. 
1897. 


4         THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

M.  E  Sadler.     Problems  in  Prussian  Secondary  Education  for  Boys. 

In  Special  Reports  on  Educational  Subjects.     Vol.  III.     1S98. 
Curricula    and     Programmes    of    Work    for    Higher    Schools    in 

Prussia.     Issued    by   the    Prussian   Minister   of  Education,  1896. 

Translated  in  Special  Reports  (see  above).     Vol.  III. 

III.  On    the    History   of    the   Teaching   of    English    in    the    United 

States,  see 
R.  R.  Reader.     The   Historical    Development  of   School    Readers 

and  Method  in  Teaching  Reading.     Columbia  University  Press. 

1900. 
Edward   Eggleston.      The   Transit   of   Civilization   from   England 

to    America    m    the    Seventeenth    Century.      Appleton.      1900. 

Chapter  V. 
J.  B.  McMaster.     A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States. 

Appleton.  Vol.  V.  Chapter  XLIX. 
Other  information  will  be  found  here  and  there  in  B.  A.  Hinsdale's 
Teaching  the  Language  Arts  (see  next  section  of  the  bibliography), 
E.  E.  Brown's  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools,  Longmans, 
1902,  and  in  the  various  essays  on  elementary,  secondary,  and  higher 
education  in  the  several  States,  published  in  the  Circulars  of  Infor- 
mation of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.  See  also  the 
special  references  on  the  history  of  the  separate  parts  of  secondary 
instruction  in  English,  given  in  Chapter  III. 

IV.  On   the   general    theory   of    instruction   in  the   mother-tongue   in 
German  schools,  see  the 

Bibliography   at   the   end   of   Russell's   German   Higher    Schools, 
Chapter  XII. 

V.  On  the  general  theory  of  instruction  in  English,  see 

B.  A.  Hinsdale.     Teaching  the  Language  Arts.     Appleton.     1896. 

P.  Chubb.     The  Teaching  of  English.     Macmillan.     1902. 

S.  S.  Laurie      Lectures   on   Language   and    Linguistic   Method   in 

the  School.     Macmillan.     1899. 
G.  H.  Palmer.     Self-Cultivation  in  English.     Crowell.     1S97. 
For   references  on  special  parts  of   instruction  in  English,  see  the 
bibliographies  in  the  following  chapters. 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  record  and  discuss  theories  with 
regard  to  elementary  and  secondary  instruction  in  English  now 
held  by  teachers  and  students  of  education.  With  such  a  pur- 
pose in  view,  it  would  at  first  seem  unnecessary  to  speak  at  all 
of  Latin  and  Greek  or  of  French  and  German.  Two  considera- 
tions, however,  must  not  be  neglected.  First,  the  idea  that 
there  should  be  any  definite  system  of  instruction  in  a  native 
tongue  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin  and  is  not  even  yet 


THE   STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TOXGUE         5 

accepted  by  all ;  and,  second,  it  is  clear  that,  generally  speak- 
ing, the  theory  of  instruction  in  a  native  language  or  mother- 
tongue  must  be  virtually  the  same,  whether  that  tongue  be 
English  or  French  or  German.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that 
we  should  not  regard  instruction  in  English  as  an  isolated 
problem.  We  must,  in  the  first  place,  consider  the  long  move- 
ment that  has  led  to  the  breaking  down  of  the  theory  by  which 
all  or  nearly  all  systematic  linguistic  instruction  should  be  given 
by  means  of  Latin  and  Greek,  rather  than  by  means  of  a  ver- 
nacular. In  the  second  place,  we  must  consider  the  systems  of 
instruction  in  the  vernacular  now  in  vogue  in  one  or  more  of  the 
countries  of  continental  Europe,  with  the  hope  of  deriving  some 
profit  from  foreign  experience  in  analogous  problems. 

I.    Latin  .\xd  the  Vernaculars 

So  accustomed  are  we  to  the  conception  that  each  modern 
nation  or  group  of  sister  nations  has  its  own  special  language, 
common  to  all  or  to  the  great  majority  of  its  inhabi-  Language  and 
tants,  that  it  is  with  surprise  and  pity  that  we  read  of  *^^  People. 
imperfectly  civilized  Eastern  lands,  where  different  classes  or 
castes  sometimes  use  widely  different  dialects  and  where  the 
written  language  of  the  learned  has  little  or  no  connection  with 
the  speech  of  the  people  at  large.  Yet  it  is  only  a  few  centuries 
since,  in  each  European  country,  at  least  two  languages  were  in 
vogue  :  the  vernacular,  the  despised  speech  of  the  lowly  ;  and 
Latin,  the  language  of  literature  and  of  learning. 

In  the  delightful  series  of  letters  on   the  grammar  of  the 
English   language  written   by  William  Cobbett,  in 
1817-20,  may  be  found  the  following  bitter  protest   "Learned" 
against  the  assumption,  common  even  as  late  as  the 
nineteenth  century,  that  Latin  and  Greek,  as  distinguished  from 
the  modern  tongues,  are  learned  languages :  — 

"Those  languages  are,  by  impostors  and  their  dupes,  called 
the  learned  languages ;  and  those  who  have  paid  for  having 
studied  them   are  said  to  have  received  a  liberal  education. 


6         THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

These  appellations  are  false,  and,  of  course,  they  lead  to  false 
conclusions.  Learning,  as  a  noun,  means  knowledge,  and 
learned  means  knowing,  or  possessed  of  knowledge.  Learning 
is,  then,  to  be  acquired  by  conception ;  and  it  is  shown  in  judg- 
ment, in  reasoning,  and  in  the  various  modes  of  employing  it. 
What,  then,  can  learning  have  to  do  with  any  particular  tongue  ! 
Good  grammar,  for  instance,  written  in  Welsh,  or  in  the  language 
of  the  Chippewa  savages,  is  more  learned  than  bad  grammar 
written  in  Greek.  The  learning  is  in  the  mind  and  not  in  the 
tongue  ;  learning  consists  of  ideas  and  not  of  the  noise  that  is 
made  by  the  mouth.  If,  for  instance,  the  Reports  drawn  up  by 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  which  are  compositions  discover- 
ing in  every  sentence  ignorance  the  most  profound,  were 
written  in  Latin,  should  we  call  them  learned  ?  Should  we  say 
that  the  mere  change  of  words  from  one  tongue  into  another 
made  that  learned  which  was  before  unlearned  ?  As  well  may  we 
say  that  a  falsehood  written  in  English  would  have  been  a  truth 
in  Latin  ;  and  as  well  may  we  say  tliat  a  certain  handwriting  is 
a  learned  handwriting,  or  that  certain  sorts  of  ink  and  paper  are 
learned  ink  and  paper,  as  that  a  language  or  tongue  is  a  learned 
language  or  tongue." 

Cobbett's  defence  of  the  natural  rights,  so  to  speak,  of  a 
modern  language,  and  his  refusal  to  admit  that  any  one  tongue 
Rise  of  the  ^^^  properly  be  called  "learned"  as  distinguished 
Vernaculars.  fj.Q^^  another,  recall  vividly  the  long  period  during 
which  Latin  and  Greek  were  conceded  throughout  the  civilized 
world  to  be  the  only  fit  subjects  of  linguistic  study,  and  Latin 
declared  to  be  the  only  suitable  medium  for  written  and  oral 
communication  among  educated  men,  and  especially  the  only 
sure  means  for  bequeathing  thought  to  posterity.  Of  this  old 
doctrine  many  vestiges  remain.  We  still  speak  of  the  "  classical  " 
languages,  with  a  half-conscious  implication  that  we  thereby  set 
them  apart  as  authoritative  standards  of  human  speech  and 
literature ;  we  award  degrees  with  Latin  names ;  commence- 
ment orators  still  deliver  Latin  addresses  ;  the  grammar  of  our 
native  tongue  is  still  frequently  taught  in  terms  more  applicable 
to  Latin  and  Greek  than  to  English  ;  and  the  unlettered  still 
often  feel  that  he  who  can  read  an  ancient  language  must  have 
an  undisputed  title  to  wisdom.     More  than  all  this,  Latin  is  still 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE   MOTHER-TONGUE         7 

believed,  by  a  strong  party  of  scholars  and  men  of  influence  and 
authority  in  Germany,  France,  England,  and  the  United  States, 
to  be  the  most  essential  element  in  all  sound  secondary  educa- 
tion. If  we  would  understand,  therefore,  how  and  to  what  ex- 
tent English  should  be  taught  in  the  elementary  and  secondary 
schools^  it  will  be  found  necessary,  first,  to  review  briefly  the 
long  process  by  which  English,  French,  and  German  —  and  m 
general  the  modem  tongues  of  Europe  —  have  come  to  supplant 
Latin  for  literary  uses  ;  second,  to  notice  the  steps  by  which  the 
modern  languages,  from  a  position  of  complete  neglect,  have 
arisen  to  a  position  of  comparative  equality,  in  matters  of  educa- 
tion, with  Latin  and  Greek  ;  and,  third,  to  discuss  for  a  moment 
the  extent  to  which,  if  at  all,  English,  as  a  typical  modern  lan- 
guage, may  properly  supplant  Latin  and  Greek  m  the  training 
of  the  secondary  schools. 

(i)  Latin  versus  the  vernaculars  in  literature.    For  the  nations 

that  grew  up  in  Europe  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  Roman  Empire, 

Latin  was,  during  the  early  centuries,  the    official  t  ^  ^^ 

language   of  state  and  church,   the   only  medium   Jongueof 
.  ^  State  and 

used  in  literature  or  in  any  formal  written  or  oral   Churcii. 

communication  among  educated  men.  It  was  only  after  the 
lapse  of  centuries  that  the  speech  of  the  vulgar,  the  despised 
dialects  of  the  people  at  large,  came  to  aspire  humbly  to  such 
uses.  Even  after  nations  had  grown  to  consciousness  of  their 
power  and  dignity,  Latin  long  remained  the  medium  of  royal 
edicts,  and  its  use  in  diplomacy  died  out  only  towards  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  not  until  the  rise  of  the 
various  Protestant  sects  that  the  modern  languages  were  regu- 
larly and  widely  used  in  public  prayer  and  worship,  and  Latin 
is  still  the  official  tongue  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Literature  of  real  value  had  been  here  and  there  produced  in 
the  vernaculars  from  the  seventh  century  on.  Our  pagan  an- 
cestors, the  Anglo-Saxons,  wove  their  sombre  epic  in  almost 
complete  freedom  from  the  influences  of  foreign  culture,  even 
as,  at  a   somewhat   later   period,    their   Scandinavian   cousins 


8         THE  STUDY  OF   THE   MOTHER-TONGUE 

wrought  their  noble  eddas  and  sagas.  But  these  things  were 
done  in  distant  corners  of  the  earth.  The  career  of  the  mod- 
TheWew  ^™   tongues   in  hterature   and    their   direct    com- 

Popuiar^"  petition  with  Latin  for  such  purposes  did  not 
Poetry.  begin   until,  yielding  to  an    innate   impulse,  Pro- 

vence broke  forth  into  pleasant  song,  in  its  own  rough  dialect, 
in  the  twelfth  century.  It  was  followed  in  divers  fashions  by 
land  after  land,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the 
bonds  of  tradition  were,  throughout  Europe,  either  broken  or  at 
least  greatly  loosened,  so  far  as  popular  poetry  was  concerned. 

It  was  in  Italy,  where  the  young  humanists  were  alike  men 
of  learning  and  men  of  letters,  that  the  point  of  issue  between 
Distrust  of  the  the  old  tongues  and  the  new  was  first  sharply 
New  Tongues,   ^.^j^^^^     j^^   j^j^   treatise    On   the    Vulgar  Tongue, 

written  while  he  was  maturing  the  thought  of  his  great  poem, 
Dante  demonstrated  clearly  the  right,  and  indeed  the  duty,  of 
the  poet  to  use  the  vernacular,  proclaiming  it  to  be  the  nobler 
form  of  speech,  because  more  common,  less  artificial,  and  more 
closely  associated  with  actual  life.  The  use  of  Italian  rather 
than  Latin  in  the  Divine  Coiuedy  was  thus  the  somewhat  daring 
choice  of  a  far-seeing  and  clear-thinking  man.  But  even  after 
the  success  of  the  great  epic  had  been  thoroughly  tested, 
Petrarch,  who  had  himself  won  fame  as  a  poet  in  the  vernacular, 
thought  meanly  of  his  native  language.  In  1366,  writing  to 
Boccaccio,  he  confesses  that  in  his  youth  he  was  led  by  the 
charm  and  promise  of  the  "  recently  discovered  "  vernacular 
into  making  great  efforts  to  improve  it,  but  that,  "  turning  the 
matter  over  in  my  mind,  I  concluded  at  length  that  I  was  build- 
ing upon  unstable  earth  and  shifting  sand,  and  should  simply 
waste  my  labours  and  see  the  work  of  my  hands  levelled  by 
the  common  herd."  As  knowledge  grew,  and  men  saw  more 
clearly  the  majesty  and  power  of  the  world  of  antiquity, 
scholars  came  to  realize  the  orderly  strength  and  fitness  of  the 
Latin  tongue,  in  comparison  with  what  was  then  the  loose  and 
irregular  character  of  the  modern  languages.  Though  they 
were  willing  to  waive  the  rights  of  the  older  language  in  such 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE         9 

trivial  matters  as  popular  verses  and  tales,  they  were  still 
inclined  to  maintain  that  it  was  safer  to  compose  all  works  of 
learning,  on  whatever  subject,  in  that  tongue  which  all  agreed 
in  declaring  the  most  noble,  the  most  serviceable,  the  most 
exact,  and  the  most  durable.  It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
therefore,  that  the  learned  Erasmus,  master  of  the  classic 
idioms,  was  not  ashamed  of  his  essential  ignorance  of  his 
mother-tongue,  or  that  Bacon  was  unwilling  to  intrust  to  the 
yet  unproved  virtues  of  English  the  guardianship  of  his  phi- 
losophy, fearing  that  "these  modern  languages,"  as  he  wrote 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,  "  will  at  one  time  or  another  play 
the  bankrupt  with  books." 

Though  men  of  science  may  sometimes  have  shared  Bacon's 
fears,  however,  the  whole  trend  of  literature  was  in  the  opposite 
direction.  In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen-  The  Opposite 
turies  there  arose  in  Italy,  France,  and  England  ^"°*^" 
groups  of  men  who  felt  convinced  that  their  native  tongues 
were  worth  paying  some  attention  to,  and  that,  if  properly 
developed,  they  would  prove  fitting  instruments  for  all  literary 
purposes.  In  these  countries,  then,  scholars  and  men  of  letters 
devoted  themselves  to  experiments  of  all  kinds  for  increasing 
the  range,  effectiveness,  flexibility,  and  system  of  the  modern 
languages.  Such  efforts,  at  first  following  the  ancient  languages 
as  models,  were  in  large  measure  successful,  and  by  the  eigh- 
teenth century  Italian,  French,  and  English  prose  had  each 
proved  itself  a  powerful  and  worthy  instrument  for  the  syste- 
matic and  effective  transmission  of  thought.  So  far  as  literature, 
journalism,  and  the  common  necessities  of  expression  were 
concerned,  the  vernacular  had  completely  won  the  day. 

(2)    Latin  versus  the  vertiactilars  in  education.      In  the  field 
of  education  development  was  of  necessity  much  more  slow.    At 
the  outset  Latin  was  the  language  of  all  educated  ^^^^  ^^^ 
men,  the  only  gate  to  book  knowledge  of  any  sort,   ^^^^^^ 
be  the  learner  rich  or  poor,  noble  or  merchant  or 
peasant.     All  knowledge    was   in   Latin,   and   all   knowledge 


10       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

must,  therefore,  begin  by  Latin.  Such  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary instruction  as  existed  was  given  in  Latin,  and  the 
function  of  the  mediaeval  university  was  to  teach,  hkewise  in 
Latin,  whatever  was  thought  to  be  worth  knowing.  Only  here 
and  there  was  an  attempt  made  by  a  commune  to  instruct  its 
citizens,  through  the  medium  of  its  native  language,  in  some 
special  particular,  as  by  the  Florentine  public  lectureship  on 
Dante  in  the  fourteenth  century.  It  was  only  a  remote  nation 
like  England,  and  that  only  for  a  brief  period,  which  could 
perceive  that  the  strength  of  its  people  lay  in  its  education  in 
its  natural  tongue,  as  did  King  Alfred  when  he  expressed  his 
wish  that  '■'•  the  whole  body  of  free-born  youths  in  the  kingdom, 
who  possess  the  means,  may  be  obliged  to  learn  as  long  as 
they  have  to  attend  to  no  other  business,  until  they  can  read 
English  writing  perfectly." 

Progress  was  almost  infinitely  slow.  Montaigne,  who  was 
born  in  1533,  says  of  his  own  education,  "  I  was  above  six 
The  Old  years  of  age  before  I  understood  either  French  or 

System.  Perigordian    [his    native    dialect]   any   more   than 

Arabic,  and  without  art,  book,  grammar,  or  precept,  whipping, 
or  the  experience  of  a  tear,  had  by  that  time  learned  to  speak 
as  pure  Latin  as  my  master  himself."  Montaigne's  father  was 
a  man  of  ideas,  and  had  had  his  son  trained  by  a  somewhat 
original  method,  in  that  he  spared  him  toil  over  books  and  the 
discipline  of  the  rod,  which  was  then  supposed  to  be  insepar- 
ably involved,  as  well  it  might  be,  with  the  successful  teaching 
of  Latin.  But  in  other  respects  the  instruction  of  Montaigne 
was  not  peculiar.  The  famous  Jesuit  schools,  founded  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  long  the  most  famous  in  France,  the  con- 
temporary grammar  (?'.  e.  Latin)  schools  in  England,  and  the 
celebrated  Strasburg  school  of  Sturm,  had  practically  the  same 
object  in  view,  though  their  methods  differed.  The  aim  was  that 
the  pupil  should  learn  Latin  and  nothing  else.  For  that  purpose 
it  was  thought  essential  that  he  should  learn  first  to  read  in 
Latin,  without  previous  instruction  in  the  vernacular,  and, 
certainly  in  France  and  Germany,  that  he  should,  even  in  the 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TOXGUE       II 

lowest  classes,  speak  Latin.     Except  on  holidays,  boys  were  to 

be  severely  punished  if  they  made  use  of  their  mother-tongue, 

even  in  their  games. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  two  great  steps  in  advance  were 

taken.     In  the  first  place,  earnest  and  open-minded  men  began 

to  see  that  the  native  forms  of  speech  were  unduly   _ 

^  ^    The  First 

neglected    in  elementary   instruction.     In    France   step  in 

Advance, 
the  wise  Jansenists  made  use  of  the  mother-tongue 

in  the  lower  classes  of  their  famous  Port-Royal  schools,  soon 

closed  through  the  enmity  of  their  great  rivals,  the  Jesuits.     In 

Germany,    Ratich   laid   the   emphasis,  in   his   somewhat   wild 

theory  of  education,  on  grounding  the  pupil  first  of  all  in  his 

native  language,  and  the  less  erratic  Comenius  put  in  practice 

a  system  by  which  the  student,  after  passing  the  years  from 

six  to  twelve  in  an  elementary  school,  where  he  was  taught  his 

native  language,  passed  on  to  the  Latin  school.     In  England 

little  was  accomplished  by  way  of  progress,  but  there  were  men 

who  felt  that  English  —  even  in  Shakspere's  time  —  was  worth 

some  slight  attention.     Richard  Mulcaster,  Spenser's  teacher 

and  the  first  master  of  Merchant  Taylors,  made  a  strong  plea 

for  elementary  instruction  in  his  native  language  :  — 

"  Is  it  not  a  marvellous  bondage  to  become  ser\'ants  to  one 
tongue  for  learning's  sake,  the  most  part  of  our  time,  with  loss 
of  most  time,  whereas  we  may  have  the  very  same  treasure  in 
our  own  tongue  with  the  gain  of  most  time  ;  our  own  bearing 
the  joyful  title  of  our  liberty  and  freedom,  the  Latin  tongue  re- 
membering us  of  our  thraldom  and  bondage.  I  love  Rome, 
but  London  better  ;  I  love  Italy,  but  England  more ;  I  love  the 
Latin,  but  I  worship  the  English,  ...  If  we  must  cleave  to 
the  eldest  and  not  to  the  best,  we  should  be  eating  acorns  and 
wearing  old  Adam's  pelts.  But  why  not  all  in  English?  I  do 
not  think  that  any  language,  be  it  whatsoever,  is  better  able  to 
utter  all  arguments  either  with  more  pith  or  greater  plainness 
than  our  English  tongue  is."  ^ 


1  From  The  First  Part  of  the  Elenientarie  which  Entreateth  Chiefly 
of  the  Right  Writing  of  the  English  Tongue.  1582.  Quoted  in  Morley, 
English  Writers^  IX.  186.     For  Mulcaster,  see  also  J.  Parmentier,  His- 


12       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

And  in  1659  we  find  another  schoolmaster  pleading  for  the 
use,  in  the  elementary  school,  of  various  "  delightful  books  "  in 
the  mother-tongue,  for  "  by  this  means  children  will  gain  such 
a  habit  of  delight  in  reading  as  to  make  it  their  chief  recreation 
when  liberty  is  afforded  them.  And  their  acquaintance  with 
good  books  will,  by  God's  blessing,  be  a  means  so  to  sweeten 
their  (otherwise  sour)  natures  that  they  may  live  comfortably 
towards  themselves,  and  amiably  converse  with  other  persons."  ^ 
It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  almost  universal  belief  in 
the  sufficiency  of  a  purely  "classical"  education,  which  was 
The  Second  ^^\^  by  men  of  authority  all  over  Europe,  and  the 
^^^''*  corresponding  contempt  for  instruction  in  the  mod- 

ern tongues,  would  suddenly  be  altered,  even  though  it  was 
more  generally  acknowledged  that  elementary  instruction  was 
best  given  in  the  vernacular.  It  was  not  until  the  nineteenth 
century  that  much  real  progress  was  made,  though  many  influ- 
ences that  were  eventually  effective  were  slowly  gathering  force. 
One  of  these,  first  clearly  evident  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
marks  the  second  step  in '  the  onward  movement,  the  feeling 

:^hat  the  mother-tongue  should  be  studied  with  care  and  beyond 
/the  point  reached  in  elementary  instruction,  but  not  in  the 

.schools.  Such  a  feeling  was  natural  in  the  century  which  saw 
'  the  full  triumph  throughout  Europe  of  modern  literature  in 
prose  and  verse,  and  in  which  progress  in  government,  science, 
and  general  civilization  removed  so  many  of  the  old  barriers  to 
the  understanding  of  the  world  and  the  social  organism.  The 
modern  tongues,  it  was  discovered,  were  serviceable,  and  should 
therefore  be  made  the  subject  of  study.  Discrimination  and 
skill  in  the  use  of  one's  language  were  the  mark  of  the  courtier 
and  the  gentleman.  Such  qualities,  however,  were  obviously 
not  to  be  acquired  in  the  schools,  and  Locke,  who  saw  deep 
into  the  real  problem  of  education,  observed  that  "to  speak 


ioire  de  V Education  en  Angleterre  depnis  les  Origines  jusqu'au  Commence- 
ment du  dix-neuviime  Siicle.     Paris,  1896.     Chapter  IV. 

1  Charles  Hoole,  master  of  the  grammar  school  at  Rotherham,  in 
The  Petty-Schoole,  1659. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE       1 3 

and  write  correctly  gives  a  grace  and  gains  a  favourable  atten- 
tion to  what  one  has  to  say  ;  and  since  it  is  English  that  an 
Englishman  will  have  constant  use  of,  that  is  the  language  he 
should  chiefly  cultivate,  and  wherein  most  care  should  be  taken 
to  polish  and  perfect  his  style."  A  further  sign  of  the  same 
widespread  and  deep-seated  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  training 
that  should  fit  the  gentleman  for  the  duties  of  his  station,  —  a 
sentiment  heightened  by  the  deadening  and  artificial  instruction 
of  the  grammar  or  Latin  schools,  —  was  the  founding  in  Ger- 
many, under  French  influence,  of  the  Ritterschulen,  schools  for 
gentlemen,  in  which  Latin  was  absent  or  wholly  subordinated, 
and  the  emphasis  of  instruction  thrown  not  only  on  manly  ex- 
ercises and  the  arts  that  beget  grace  and  courage,  but  on  the 
modern  languages  and  on  such  knowledge  as  might  give  one 
power  over  himself  and  his  fellows.  The  aim  of  these  schools 
was  not  always  a  high  one,  but  it  was  better  than  that  of  the 
instruction  which  they  helped  to  displace. 

The  eighteenth  century  was  rich  in  educational  theorists,  and 
it  was  largely  by  their  inspiration  and  leadership  that  the  third 
important  step  was  taken,  —  the  introduction  of  the  ^^^  Ttl^x\ 
vernacular  into  secondary  education.  But  much  ^'^^^' 
too  was  due  to  the  awakening  sense  of  the  people  at  large, 
who,  growing  alive  to  their  duties  and  responsibilities  as  well  as 
to  their  rights,,  found  themselves  sundered  from  the  dream-world 
of  antiquity  and  face  to  face  with  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth.  It  became  clear  that  men  who  handled  things  should 
have  a  different  training  from  men  who  dealt  with  words  alone. 
The  claims  of  science,  history,  and  philosophy  were  deeply  felt 
and  fully  recognized.  Great  ideals  of  human  wisdom,  justice, 
and  achievement  were  working  in  all  earnest  hearts.  The  aims 
of  "  classical  "  instruction  were  transformed.  Latin  and  Greek 
were  no  longer  to  give  to  youth  mere  lip-knowledge,  but  to 
train  them  in  the  discipline  and  aspirations  of  the  two  great 
nations  of  antiquity.  The  German  classical  gymnasia,  new 
founded  by  the  side  of  the  decaying  Latin  schools,  became 
noble  influences  in  education.     And,  best  of  all,  side  by  side 


14       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

with  them  stood  the  new  Real-schiilen,  —  schools  where  the  real- 
ities of  life  had  their  due  place.  At  first  they  were  scarcely 
more  than  trade  schools,  or,  as  they  have  been  well  described, 
"  manual  training  schools,  in  which  the  scientific  principles  un- 
derlying the  various  trades  and  business  vocations  should  have 
a  prominent  place."  Soon,  however,  they  were  given  a  higher 
scope  and  standing,  and,  when  the  century  closed,  there  were, 
in  Germany  at  least  and  to  a  lesser  degree  in  France,  two  ways 
in  which  a  worthy  youth  could  be  further  trained,  after  his  in- 
struction in  tte  elementary  schools  was  over,  —  first,  in  a  secon- 
dary school  where  the  chief  instrument  was  the  ancient  linguistic 
discipline,  and  second,  in  a  secondary  school  no  less  thorough 
where  the  chief  instrument  was  science.  In  both  schools  the 
mother-tongue  received  more  attention  than  before,  and  in  the 
second  group  this  was  especially  the  case.^ 

The  eighteenth  century  was  thus  successful  in  establishing  in 
Germany,  and  to  a  less  extent  in  other  countries,  the  beginnings 
of  a  sound  system  of  secondary  instruction  that  was 
Nineteenth  not  exclusively  devoted  to  the  classical  languages, 
entury.  r^j^^  ^^^j^  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  extension 
and  systematization  of  this  policy.  How  far  it  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  this  we  shall  consider  when  we  come  to  discuss  the 


1  "  The  teaching  of  the  German  language  and  literature  has  now  been 
firmly  established  for  over  one  hundred  years  in  the  higher  schools  of 
the  country.  Its  recognition  stands  in  direct  connection  with  the  growth 
of  the  German  classical  literature  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. Before  that  time  the  efforts  of  educational  reformers  were  chiefly 
directed  towards  obtaining  the  removal  from  school  and  university  prac- 
tice of  the  stern  rule  laid  down  for  the  Strasburg  Gymnasium  :  Qui  sermone 
alio  ntuiititr  qtiam  Latino,  ratione  bond  puniantur  !  But  in  17S0-1S00  two 
men  in  very  different  spheres  were  working  with  the  same  ideal  of  diffus- 
ing a  real  knowledge  of  the  national  literature.  In  17S8  the  great  Prus- 
sian Minister  of  Education,  Von  Zedlitz,  built  up  a  systematic  course  of 
instruction,  and  gave  it  a  prominent  place  in  the  leaving  examination  ; 
and  in  a  school  speech  at  Weimar,  eight  years  later.  Herder  welcomed 
the  new  movement.  From  that  time  onward  the  subject  kept  its  place 
in  the  gymnasium  without  dispute."  —  F.  H.  Dale,  The  Teaching  of  the 
Mother-  Tongue  in  Germany,  362. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE       1 5 

present  status  of  secondary  instruction  in  the  mother-tongue  in 
the  principal  European  countries  and  in  the  United  States. 
For  general  purposes  it  is  sufficient  here  to  note  that  university 
training  has  everywhere  been  immensely  broadened  ;  that  the 
study  of  languages  other  than  Latin  and  Greek,  and  especially 
the  mother-tongue,  has  reached  large  proportions,  and  that 
schools  fitting  boys  specifically  for  the  universities  have  there- 
fore been  led  greatly  to  broaden  their  curricula.  Moreover,  the 
strong  trend  of  democratic  sentiment  and  the  great  change  in 
the  distribution  of  wealth  have  enormously  increased  the  num- 
ber of  secondary  schools  of  various  kinds  whose  aim  is  not 
specifically  that  of  fitting  pupils  for  higher  institutions,  as  well 
as  the  attendance  in  such  schools.  And  in  these  schools,  which 
are  naturally  less  under  the  influence  of  "  classical  "  tradition, 
there  has  been  a  marked  tendency  to  replace  Latin  and  Greek 
in  the  curriculum  by  the  modern  languages  and  to  lay  special 
stress  on  the  native  language. 

The  nineteenth  century  as  a  whole,  however,  has  been  marked, 
in  point  of  educational  theory  and  practice,  and,  perhaps  espe- 
cially toward  its  close,  by  the  earnest  discussion  and  -^  •^\\2\ 
investigation  of  two  important  questions, —  first,  Questions, 
whether  it  would  or  would  not  be  wiser  to  decrease  greatly  the 
use  of  Latin  and  Greek  as  instruments  of  secondary  education, 
or  indeed,  as  a  rule,  wholly  to  do  away  with  them  ;  and,  second, 
whether,  if  this  should  prove  to  be  the  case,  it  would  be  possible 
to  use  the  modern  languages  as  a  means  of  securing  the  mental 
discipline  and  the  other  beneficial  effects  that  have  long  been 
thought  to  be  best  secured  by  training  in  Latin  and  Greek.  On 
the  first  question,  as  might  have  been  expected,  there  is  still  a 
wide  difference  of  opinion,  not  only  among  experts  in  education 
but  throughout  the  public  at  large.  That  question,  moreover,  is 
scarcely  pertinent  to  our  present  inquiry,  and  has  been  well  dis- 
cussed, where  it  properly  belongs,  by  Professor  Bennett,  in  the 
corresponding  volume  of  this  series  on  the  teaching  of  Latin 
and  Greek  in  the  secondary  school.  The  second  question, 
however, —  what  amount  of  mental  discipline  may  be  secured 


1 6       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

through  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue,  and  how  serviceable  it 
may  be  made  for  educative  purposes, —  it  is  proper  and  indeed 
necessary  for  us  to  discuss  here.  In  order  to  do  so  we  must  for 
a  moment  take  up  the  less  pertinent  question  as  to  the  educa- 
tive value  of  Latin  and  Greek. 

(3)  Latin  versus  the  vernacular  in  modern  education.  The 
many  sound  arguments  in  favour  of  the  use  of  Latin  and 
Arguments  Greek,  or  of  Latin  alone,  as  instruments  of  great 
°^  ■  value  in  secondary  instruction,  may  be  fairly  summed 
up  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  study  of  a  richly  inflected  synthetic  language  is  highly 
valuable  as  a  mental  discipline,  c 

2.  The  study  of  Greek  and  Latin  is  valuable  in  that  it  intro- 
duces the  student  to  the  two  great  literatures  (outside  of 
Hebrew)  of  antiquity,  thus  training  his  taste  and  giving  him 
sesthetic  standards  that  are  both  elevated  and  permanent. 

3.  It  is  likewise  valuable  in  that  it  gives  him  a  knowledge  of 
the  Gragco-Roman  civilization,  thus  furnishing  him  the  key  to 
an  understanding  of  the  modern  world. 

4.  Practice  in  translation,  and  especially  in  translation  from 
a  highly  inflected  synthetic  language  into  a  modern  language, 
gives  excellent  training  in  the  mother-tongue. 

The  principal  objections  to  this  set  of  arguments  are  the 
following :  ^  — 

I.  Mental  discipline  can  be  as  easily  secured,  so 
^     °    *       far  as  can  be  seen,  by  the  proper  study  of  mathe- 
matics, the  physical  sciences,  history,  or  other  subjects. 

2.  Greek  literature  is  beautiful  and  important,  but  pres- 
ent systems  of  instruction  do  not  enable  a  pupil,  at  the 
end  of  his  secondary  studies,  and  rarely  even  at  the  end  of  his 
college  course,  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  literature  at  all  pro- 
portionate to  the  time  spent  in  acquiring  it.  The  value  of  a 
knowledge  of  Latin  literature  is  greatly  overrated,  and  can  only 
in  the  rarest  cases  be  considered  as  repaying   the  secondary 


1  This  point  of  view  is  admirably  stated   in  Jules  Lemaitre,  Opinions 
h  repandre,  1901,  pp.  1 17-157. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE       1 7 

student  for  the  time  consumed,  especially  when  we  compare  the 
results  obtained  from  the  study  of  the  great  modern  literatures. 

3.  For  the  adequate  understanding  of  the  Graeco-Roman 
civilization  a  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin  is  not  essential,  and 
an  understanding  of  modern  civilization  does  not  depend,  to  any 
marked  degree,  upon  the  study  of  ancient  Latin  and  Greek 
society. 

4.  The  advantages  offered  by  translation  are  as  easily  and  as 
effectively  obtained  through  the  modern  as  through  the  ancient 
languages.  Men  trained  almost  exclusively  in  Latin  and  Greek 
are  quite  as  likely  to  write  badly  as  to  write  well,  and  training 
in  matters  of  style  is  best  secured  through  the  modern  languages, 
which  present  us  models  more  likely  to  prove  serviceable,  be- 
cause more  in  accordance  with  the  whole  structure  of  modern 
life. 

Each  set  of  propositions,  it  must  be  noticed,  is  held  by  a 
strong  party  of  scholars  and  men  of  letters.     With  regard  to  the 
merits   of  the   general   question   and    the  relative   The  Question 
strength  of  the  respective  arguments,  I  do  not  pre-   soiled  by 
sume  to  venture  an  opinion.     The  whole  question,   ^^P«'^«^'ce. 
I  am  convinced,  is  more  likely  to  be  solved  by  practice  than 
by  theory.     Men  are  now  being  educated  in  large  numbers,  in 
several  different  countries  and  especially  in  the  United  States, 
through  secondary  school  curricula  in  which  Latin  does   not 
play  an  important  part,  or  does  not  appear  at  all.     It  is  by  their 
fruits  that  educational  systems  must  inevitably  be  judged.    The 
end  of  the  present  century,  and  very  possibly  an  earlier  date, 
will  in  all  probability  see  the  solution  of  the  question,  which 
has  in  one  form  or  another  been  perplexing  humanity  for  sev- 
eral hundred  years. 

There  is,  however,  a  matter  involved  which  it  is  important 
that  students  and  teachers  of  English  should  discuss  and  if 
possible  decide.     It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the 
claims   of  the   classicists   resolve   themselves   into   Questloii 
these  four  points  :  Latin  —  to  take  for  ease  of  ex- 
planation the  language  most  under  discussion  —  is  almost  indis- 

2 


1 8       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

pensable  as  a  means  of  instruction,  because  of  its  great  value 
(i)  as  a  discipline  ;  (2)  in  introducing  the  pupil  to  great  works 
of  literature  and  in  moulding  his  taste  ;  (3)  in  giving  him  the 
necessary  understanding  of  the  social  system  of  which  he  is  a 
part ;  and  (4)  in  giving  him  power  over  his  native  tongue.  Now 
on  all  these  four  points  the  classicists  are  flatly  contradicted  by 
the  opposing  party  ;  and  on  the  first  three  heads  it  is  with  great 
difficulty  that  the  classicists  can  hold  their  own.  Many  sub- 
jects of  study  discipline  the  mind,  —  indeed  all  subjects  when 
well  taught,  and  perhaps  particularly  mathematics  and  the 
natural  sciences.  Great  works  of  literature  in  the  modern 
languages  are  more  accessible,  more  commonly  mastered,  and 
more  generally  effective  in  secondary  study.  It  is  to  history, 
economics,  and  social  science  that  we  look  for  our  orien- 
tation in  modern  civilization.  But  on  the  point  of  purely 
linguistic  training  the  classicists  still  seem  to  preserve  their 
ascendency.  We  must,  therefore,  discuss  the  important  and 
pertinent  question, —  is  it  possible  to  obtain  by  the  continuous 
study  of  English  in  the  secondary  school  results  as  satisfactory 
as  those  obtained  through  the  continuous  study  of  Latin  ? 
The  classicists  say  no  ;  and  in  the  great  schools  of  England, 
and  until  very  recently  in  the  great  schools  of  the  United 
States,  the  study  of  English  as  such  was  almost  invariably  en- 
tirely lacking.  What  is  the  truth  of  the  matter  at  the  present 
time? 

Let  us  recapitulate.  We  are  not  to  consider  (i)  the  relative 
merits  of  the  classical  languages  and  other  subjects  in  point  of 
Recapituia-  discipline  ;  nor  (2)  the  relative  merits  of  the  classi- 
*'°°*  cal  and  the  modern  literatures  for  the  purpose  in 

hand ;  nor  (3)  the  relative  merits  of  Latin  and  history  as  helps 
toward  the  understanding  of  the  modern  world.  All  these 
points  lie  outside  our  sphere.  We  are  to  consider  (4)  the  rela- 
tive merits  of  Latin  and  English  as  a  help  toward  the  under- 
standing and  use  of  the  mother-tongue  for  secondary  school 
students. 

Those  who  hold  that  Latin  is  an  exceedingly  valuable  instru- 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE   MOTHER-TONGUE       1 9 

ment  for  securing  linguistic  discipline  in  secondary  training  seem 

to  do  so  for  the  following  pre-eminent  reasons  :  ^  — 

„,,  ,        r  1      ■  1      ,•        •    •  Latin  as  a 

1.  Ihe  study  ot  Latm  trains  the  hnguistic  sense,    Lingiustic 

because  Latin  is  a  fully  developed,  synthetic  lan- 
guage, rich  in  regular  inflected  forms,  and  therefore  able  to  give 
the  pupil  a  clear  insight  into  language  as  a  system  or  organism. 

2.  The  whole  linguistic  system  of  Latin  is  so  completely  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  English,  the  whole  process  of  Latin  thinking 
is  so  different  from  that  of  English  thinking,  that  the  pupil  can- 
not, in  the  study  of  Latin,  read  cursorily  and  negligently,  but 
must  bend  his  mind  with  perseverance  to  his  task,  and  learn,  if 
at  all,  by  close  attention  and  the  exercise  of  reason. 

3.  All  translation  is  profitable  exercise,  but  especially  trans- 
lation from  Latin  into  English,  for  reasons  similar  to  those  just 
mentioned.  The  pupil  cannot  depend  to  any  great  extent  on 
words  common  to  the  two  languages,  and  is  forced  to  master 
the  thought  expressed  in  the  Latin,  and  then  to  decide  just  how 
that  particular  thought  may  be  accurately  expressed  by  means 
of  a  largely  or  completely  diverse  linguistic  system.  Many  go 
so  far  as  to  insist  that  the  power  over  his  native  tongue  which 
the  pupil  thus  acquires  is  far  greater  than  that  acquired  by 
original  composition  in  his  own  language,  inasmuch  as  a  sec- 
ondary school  pupil  can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  have  any  but 
crude  and  indefinite  ideas,  and  is  therefore  best  trained  by  an 
exercise  in  which  the  ideas  are  already  supplied  and  only  ex- 
pression need  be  thought  of. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said  with  justice  that :  — 
I.  It  is  true  that  English  and  the  modern  languages  generally 
have  not  commonly  been  taught  so  as  to  give  the  linguistic 
discipline  which  it  is  well  known  that  we  obtain  The  other 
from   the   study   of    a   synthetic   language.      But,   ^^^^' 
though  this  may  establish  a  presumption,  it  does  not  prove  that 
an   analytic   language  cannot  be  taught  with    similar  results. 


1  See  especially  Bennett  and  Bristol,  The  Teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
Chapter  II. 


20       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

Teachers  and  scholars  are  just  beginning  to  understand  that 
English  is  not  an  unorganized  or  haphazard  linguistic  system, 
but  is  a  highly  developed  and  wellnigh  perfect  instrument  for 
the  expression  of  modern  thought.  That  we  are  already  familiar 
with  its  elements  leaves  us  free  to  go  the  more  deeply  into  the 
study  of  important  facts  and  principles. 

2.  No  systematic  attempt  has  yet  been  made  to  use  the 
earlier  forms  of  the  language,  particularly  Anglo-Saxon,  as  an 
instrument  for  Hnguistic  training.  Anglo-Saxon  is  of  course 
not  so  richly  inflected  a  tongue  as  Latin,  but  it  is  sufficiently 
different  from  modern  English  to  require  persevering  attention 
and  application ;  and  a  knowledge  of  it  would  be  of  value  and 
interest  to  the  student.  The  Scandinavian  nations  are  making 
a  similar  use,  in  their  gymnasia,  of  Old  Norse,  which  possesses 
an  abundant  and  valuable  literature,  and  the  Germans  and 
Austrians  a  similar  use  of  Middle  High  German,^  and  it  seems 
possible  that  in  due  course  of  time  Anglo-Saxon  can  be  used  in 
English  and  American  secondary  schools  with  good  effect. 

3.  Good  teachers  of  English  composition  would  scarcely 
admit  that  boys  of  fifteen  have  few  ideas  or  none.  Their  ideas 
may  indeed  be  crude,  but  such  terms  are  relative.  The  ideas 
of  college  boys,  or  even  of  grown  men,  might  often  be  similarly 
described.  The  fact  is  that  the  mind  of  the  high  school  student 
is  usually  brimming  over  with  ideas,  and  the  problem  to  which 
the  modern  teacher  of  composition  addresses  himself  is  not  that 
of  teaching  young  people  to  express  mature  ideas,  but  that  of 
training  them  to  express  their  youthful  ideas  adequately,  in 
words  just  and  true.  The  facts  and  experiences  that  form  part 
and  parcel  of  a  boy's  mental  life  are  legitimate  subjects  for  ex- 
pression, and  hence  for  composition  ;  and  it  is,  we  think,  being 
daily  proved  by  teachers  who  work  on  this  basis  that  training  in 
turning  these  mental  facts  into  words  that  adequately  render 
them  forms  a  discipline  quite  comparable  in  effectiveness  with 


1  For  a  discussion  of  its  use  in  German  schools,  see,    for  example, 
R.  Lehmann,  Der  deiitsche  Unterricht,  1S90,  pp.  11 5-1 22. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      21 

the  time-honoured  training  of  the  student  in  turning  into  his  own 
language,  from  an  ancient  language,  ideas  which  he  scarcely 
understands  or  appreciates.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  the 
best  way  to  treat  crude  or  incoherent  ideas  is  to  attempt  to  ex- 
press them  to  others.  The  crudity  or  incoherence  then  tends 
to  become  evident.  This  natural  educative  process  is  involved 
in  expression  by  any  medium,  but  it  is  especially  characteristic 
of  written  or  oral  expression  in  the  mother-tongue. 

It  would  seem  from  the  foregoing  discussion  that  the  burden 
of  proof  lies  with  the  vernacular,  which  must  in  every  case  prove 
itself,  by  theory  and  in  practice,  fitted  for  use  as  a  .j.jjg  gnj-dgj, 
subject  of  instruction.  And  yet  the  justice  of  such  offro°f- 
a  feeling  may  be  doubted.  If  the  oft  imagined  inhabitant  of 
another  planet  should  have  alighted  here  twenty  years  ago  in 
his  journeyings  through  space,  he  might  be  supposed  thus  to  ques- 
tion some  interlocutor,  in  the  course  of  his  inquiries  about  edu- 
cation. Question.  And  I  suppose  that  in  your  whole  system  of 
secondary  education,  —  which  is,  I  understand  you  to  say, 
free  and  within  reach  of  great  multitudes  of  the  people,  —  you 
throw  great  weight  on  instruction  in  the  native  language,  that  as 
many  citizens  as  possible  may  gain  an  intelligent  appreciation  of 
its  principles,  its  beauties,  and  its  niceties?  Answer.  Oh,  no  ! 
we  give  virtually  no  instruction  in  our  own  language  in  the 
secondary  schools.  In  the  elementary  schools  we  teach  chil- 
dren reading  and  writing  and  a  little  grammar,  and  whatever  else 
they  need  they  can  pick  up  for  themselves.  In  the  secondary 
schools  we  try  to  teach  them  Latin,  the  language  of  a  nation  that 
flourished  some  two  thousand  years  ago.  Q.  But  why  do  that? 
A.  The  language  has  long  been  held  in  high  respect.  It  was 
for  some  time,  though  not  later  than  five  or  six  hundred  years 
ago,  generally  used  by  educated  Europeans,  and  many  words 
from  it  have  become  embodied  in  our  own  speech.  Q.  Your 
last  remark  seems  pertinent,  though  I  should  suppose  you  would 
find  it  wiser  merely  to  give  the  mass  of  your  secondary  pupils 
some  instruction  in  the  Latin  vocabulary,  in  the  course  of  their 
instruction  in  English,  rather  than  to  teach  them  Latin  for  years 


22       THE   STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

and  not  teach  them  English  at  all  after  their  childhood  is  over. 
That  seems  to  me  an  exceedingly  cumbrous  method  of  securing 
a  comparatively  slight  advantage,  and  much  like  the  antique 
methods  of  medical  practice  which  you  have  so  recently  dis- 
carded. But  I  can  understand  how  you  may  manage  to  give 
your  young  citizens  a  fairly  thorough  and  adequate  linguistic 
training  without  insisting  on  formal  instruction  in  the  history  and 
principles  of  the  language.  They  would  get  the  essence  of  all 
this,  perhaps,  in  the  frequent  practice  which  you  doubtless  give 
them  in  the  use  of  their  native  tongue,  —  in  essays  and  compo- 
sitions. A.  Oh,  that  we  consider  unnecessary.  Such  training 
is  useless.  Our  boys  and  girls  of  sixteen  are  almost  fools.  They 
have  nothing  to  write  about  in  their  own  language,  and  so  we 
give  them  little  exercises  in  translating  passages  from  Latin  into 
English  or  easy  English  sentences  to  put  into  Latin.  Q.  That 
is  a  very  interesting  —  not  to  say,  astonishing  —  condidon  of 
affairs.  Still,  I  have  seen  in  China  other  somewhat  similar  sur- 
vivals of  ancient  customs.  I  suppose,  then,  that  you  confine 
your  secondary  teaching  of  English  to  this  marvellous  literature 
of  yours,  which  you  have  been  praising  so  highly  and  so  justly. 
There  you  have  at  least  a  subject  of  instruction  which  must 
prove  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  people  at  large.  A.  No,  I 
cannot  say  that  we  make  any  special  effort  to  study  our  own 
literature  in  the  high  schools.  Sometimes  we  have  the  pupils 
read  hurriedly  a  play  or  two  of  Shakspere,  but  we  rely  mostly 
on  Latin  literature.  At  the  best  we  can,  in  four  years,  get  them 
to  read,  somewhat  painfully,  about  three  hundred  pages  of  it; 
but,  etc. 

It  would  be  easy  to  prolong  such  an  imaginary  conversation, 
which  would  aim  simply  to  take  the  whole  subject  out  of  its 
customary  setting  and  thus  help  us  to  see  it  in  a  more  rational 
light.  The  result  of  any  such  attempt  to  look  at  the  matter 
fairly  must,  I  think,  in  the  present  state  of  modern  civilization, 
lead  us  to  see  that  the  burden  of  proof  may  justly  be  laid  on  the 
classicists,  and  they  be  asked  to  show  how  and  why  it  is  that 
we  retain  a  dead  language  for  purposes  of  linguistic  training 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TOXGUE      23 

and  neglect  our  own  language.  The  first  and  obvious  reply  of 
the  classicists  to  this  general  argument  would  be  one  drawn  from 
experience.  Whatever  theory  may  seem  to  show  us,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  the  apparently  roundabout  method  has  been 
successful.  For  centuries  each  nation  has  been  trained  in  its 
native  tongue  by  the  study  of  Latin.  Has  a  nation  ever  been 
so  well  trained  through  its  own  language  ?  Such  an  argument, 
we  may  reply,  would  have  been  some  years  ago  almost  unan- 
swerable, though  a  keen  mind  might  always  have  suspected  that 
experience,  as  in  so  many  matters  of  science,  was  used  to  sup- 
port a  monstrous  waste  of  force.  Recent  experience,  however, 
counts  against  the  classicists.  It  has  been  proved  that  each 
modern  language  is,  to  those  who  speak  it,  an  excellent  instru- 
ment for  linguistic  training.  Especially  is  this  true  in  certain 
parts  of  the  field  of  instruction  in  English.  Within  twenty  years 
methods  of  teaching  English  composition  have  been  put  in 
practice  which  lead  a  majority  of  those  interested  in  educa- 
tion to  believe  it  an  exceedingly  valuable  linguistic  disci- 
pline, and  within  ten  years  certain  American  schools  have  been 
securing  equally  important  results  from  the  teaching  of  Eng- 
lish literature.  Half  a  century  more  and  we  may  be  able  to 
meet  the  classicists  not  only  on  the  ground  of  pure  theory, 
where  their  case  is  weakest,  but  also  on  the  ground  of  national 
experience. 

To  sum  up  in  a  few  words,  then,  the  line  of  thought  expressed 
in  the  chapter  up  to  this  point,  we  may  say:  (i)  The  rightful 
claim  of  Latin  to  be  considered  as  the  pre-eminent  language  of 
the  educated  classes  in  Europe  was  broken  down  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  completely  overthrown  in  the 
eighteenth ;  and,  similarly,  the  exclusive  claims  of  Latin  to  be 
accepted  as  the  most  valuable  and  one  indispensable  instrument 
of  secondary  instruction  have  been  gradually  weakened,  during 
the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries,  by  the  increasing  value 
set  on  the  study  of  mathematics,  the  natural  sciences,  history, 
and  the  liiodern  languages.  (2)  It  has  become  more  and  more 
evident,  from  the  educational  experience  of  the  last  twenty-five 


24       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

years,  that  much  of  the  good  effect  secured  through  Latin  as  a 
cultural  study  may  also  be  secured  through  the  use  of  history 
and  of  literature  in  the  modern  languages.  (3)  While  the  rivals 
of  Latin  —  and  especially  history  and  the  literature  of  the  native 
tongue  —  have  been  thus  encroaching  upon  the  reputation  it  had 
long  held  as  an  educational  medium,  it  has  become  less  and  less 
certain  that  Latin  could  hold  its  reputation  even  in  the  field 
where  it  has  usually  been  regarded  as  supreme,  as  an  instrument 
for  linguistic  discipline.  In  particular,  modern  methods  in 
English  composition  seem  to  show  that  this  is,  in  proper  hands, 
an  extraordinarily  effective  instrument.  There  is  a  somewhat 
wide-spread  feeling,  moreover,  that  the  study  of  English  gram- 
mar, particularly  on  the  historical  side,  and  of  the  earlier  forms 
of  the  language,  may  be  so  systematized  as  to  yield  as  remark- 
able results  as  has  the  recently  systematized  study  of  English 
composition. 

Three  further  facts  which  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
attitude  towards  Latin  of  those  especially  interested  in  the  study 
of  English  are  these  :  — 

I.    A  still  undisputed  claim  of  Latin  on  the  attention  of  the 

modern  European  nations  is  that  it  has  been  the  source  of  so 

large  a  part  of  their  respective  vocabularies.  The 
Latin  as  a  .     ' 

Partof  Spaniard,    the    Italian,   and,   to   a   somewhat   less 

degree,  the  Frenchman,  must  know  something  of 
the  Latin  vocabulary  in  order  to  master  their  own.  This  does 
not  hold  true,  to  anything  like  the  same  extent,  of  German,  and 
especially  not  of  the  Scandinavian  languages,  which  are  far  more 
Teutonic  in  character.  It  does  hold  true  of  English,  the  vocabu- 
lary of  which  is  pardy  Latin,  partly  Teutonic.  To  acquire  the 
necessary  hold  on  the  Latin  vocabulary,  to  feel  the  force  and 
weight  of  English  words  on  their  Latin  side,  is  not,  however,  a 
task  of  great  magnitude.  With  modern  methods  of  teaching 
Latin,  it  can  certainly  be  secured  in  three  years,  and  it  is  wholly 
possible  that,  under  teachers  trained  in  English  philology  as 
well  as  in  Latin,  good  results  could  be  secured  in  two  years 
or  even  less. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      25 

2.  Recent  statistics  seem  to  show  that,  in  secondary  schools 
in  the  United  States,  the  study  of  Latin  is  increasing.  Not  only 
are  more  pupils  studying  Latin,  but  the  increase  is  greater  than 
would  be  expected,  even  taking  the  natural  increase  of  school 
attendance  into  consideration.  As  it  must  remain  very  doubt- 
ful whether  many  of  these  secondary  school  students  of  Latin 
continue  their  instruction  in  that  subject  more  than  two  or  three 
years,  it  seems  clear,  on  the  whole,  that  the  study  of  Latin,  as 
now  carried  on  in  the  secondary  schools  of  the  United  States, 
should  be  fostered  in  every  possible  way  by  those  of  us  who  are 
primarily  interested  in  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue,  except 
when  the  time  spent  in  the  study  of  Latin  must  be  subtracted, 
in  large  part  or  wholly,  from  the  time  devoted  to  English.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  moreover,  that,  when  pursued  from 
the  point  of  view  mentioned  just  above,  the  study  of  Latin  is  , 
as  much  a  part  of  the  curriculum  in  English  as  in  Latin,  and  i 
in  matters  of  method  must  eventually  be  considered  primarily  . 
as  an  English  study. 

3.  While  teachers  of  English  will  thus  feel  it  their  duty  to  en- 
courage the  study  of  Latin  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  the 
secondary  schools,  they  must  remember  that  the  ex-  xhe  Teaching 
perience  of  the  present  century,  or  even  of  the  sttull^ts' 
next  generation  or  two,  may  well  succeed  in  estab-  ^^^^y. 
lishing  the  fact  that  English,  when  properly  taught,  has  an 
educational  value  that  has  until  recently  scarcely  been  sus- 
pected. It  is  now  being  shown  in  our  best  schools  that 
training  in  English  composition  may  yield  results  hardly  at- 
tainable through  any  other  means  in  point  of  mental  discipline. 
The  progress  now  being  made  in  the  teaching  of  English 
literature  seems  to  show  that  it  now  serves  better  than  Latin 
and -Greek  the  purpose  of  awakening  and  organizing  the 
aesthetic  side  of  the  boy's  nature  a»d  of  building  up  in  him  a 
sound  taste  for  good  literature.  Similarly,  it  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  the  system  of  teaching  the  English  language  now  in 
process  of  development,  particularly  if  it  be  made  to  include  the 
study  of  Latin  and  of  Anglo-Saxon  —  the  two  great  sources  of 


26       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

our  vocabulary  —  has  not  a  strong  chance  of  supplanting  Latin 
as  the  most  convenient  and  effective  instrument  for  education  on 
the  linguistic  side.  It  behooves  the  teacher  and  the  student  of 
English,  therefore,  to  pay  the  utmost  attention  to  the  problems 
presented  by  the  teaching  of  the  mother-tongue,  treating  them 
in  a  broad  way,  without  prejudice,  and  with  the  determination 
to  aid  as  much  as  possible  in  the  solution  of  one  of  the  most 
important  educational  questions  of  our  generation. 

II.   The  Teaching  of  the  Vernaculars  in  Europe 

From  our  brief  inquiry  into  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
study  of  the  vernaculars  in  the  secondary  schools,  and  from 

„  ,.  ^,  our  still  briefer  inquiry  into  the  relative  merits 
English  In-  .    .  t      / 

structionin  of  the  training  secured  through  Latin  and  through 
Great  Britain.  .        ,       ^  *=■  ,  ,    ^ 

a  native  language,  we  now  pass  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  present  state  of  the  study  of  the  native  languages 
in  the  principal  modern  nations.  As  our  main  interest  lies 
in  English,  it  would  be  natural  to  turn  our  attention  almost 
exclusively  to  England,  where,  one  would  suppose,  we  should 
find  such  models  as  we  need.  Unfortunately,  the  secondary 
school  system  of  Great  Britain,  though  in  certain  respects  ad- 
mirable, is  peculiar  in  that  it  holds  closely  to  the  methods  of 
centuries  ago,  so  far  as  the  relative  use  of  the  ancient  and  the 
modern  languages  is  concerned.  In  all  the  great  English 
schools  Latin  and  Greek  are  the  chief  means  employed  to 
secure  mental  discipline  and  to  train  the  taste  and  the  judg- 
ment in  literary  and  linguistic  matters.  The  current  policy 
with  reference  to  the  use  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  secondary 
education  is  still  virtually  that  thus  described  in  the  report  of 
the  Educational  Commission  of  1S64:  — 

"  For  the  instruction  of  boys,  especially  when  collected  in  a 
large  school,  it  is  natural  that  there  should  be  some  one  prin- 
cipal branch  of  study,  invested  with  a  recognized  and  if  possible 
a  traditional  importance,  to  which  the  principal  weight  should 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-T-OM^UE      2/ 


be  assigned,  and  the  largest  share  of  time  and  attention  given. 
.  .  .  The  study  of  the  classical  languages  and  literature  at 
present  occupies  this  position  in  all  the  great  English  schools. 
...  It  is  not  without  reason  that  the  foremost  place  has  been 
assigned  to  this  study.  Grammar  is  the  logic  of  common 
speech,  and  there  are  few  educated  men  who  are  not  sensible 
of  the  advantages  they  derived  as  boys  from  the  steady  practice 
of  Latin  composition  and  translation,  and  from  their  introduc- 
tion to  etymology.  We  are  equally  convinced  that  the  best 
materials  available  to  Englishmen  for  these  studies  are  furnished 
by  the  languages  and  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome.  From 
the  regular  structure  of  their  languages,  from  the  comparative 
ease  with  which  their  etymology  is  traced  and  reduced  to 
general  laws,  from  their  severe  canons  of  taste  and  style,  from 
the  very  fact  that  they  are  dead,  and  have  been  handed  down 
to  us  directly  from  the  periods  of  their  highest  perfection, 
comparatively  untouched  by  the  inevitable  process  of  degenera- 
tion and  decay,  they  are  beyond  all  doubt  the  finest  and  most 
serviceable  models  we  have  for  the  study  of  language."  ^ 

During  the  last  two  decades  —  and  particularly  during   the 
last   decade  —  there   have   been   many  signs  of  a   movement 
toward  placing  the   study  of  English  on   a  more 
secure  footing  in  English  secondary  schools.     Most   Subject 
of  them.  It  would  appear,  are  now  preparmg  pupils 
for  the  Oxford  or  Cambridge  local  examinations,  for  the  matric- 
ulation examination  of  the  University  of  London,  or  for  other 
similar   tests,    which    include    English   grammar,    composition, 
and  literature.     The  evidence  seems  to  show,  however,  (i)  that 
preparation  for  these    examinations,   so   far   as    English  goes, 
is   still  rather   an   incident  in  the    work  of  the  schools    than 
an  essential  element;    (2)  that  the  schools  are  inclined  simply 
to  teach  what  the  examiners  are   likely  to  ask  for,  instead  of 
providing  a  well-proportioned  group  of  English  studies;  and 
(3)    that   what   the    examiners  require   is   too   often   not  real 


^  Report  of  Her  Majesty's  Commissioners  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
Revenues  and  Management  of  certain  Colleges,  Schools,  and  Foundations. 
"Vol.  I.  London.  1S64.  Reprinted  in  Barnard,  English  Pedagogy. 
Second  Series. 


28       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TOXGUE 

knowledge,  training,  or   cultivation    of  mind,  but   simply  the 
memorizing  of  comparatively  useless  facts.-^ 

On  the  whole,  it  is  clear  that  the  great  English  secondary 
schools,  especially  in  the  preparation  of  candidates  for  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  have  remained  faithful  to  the  old  classical 
traditions.^     Composition    is   usually   understood   as   meaning 


1  The  last  point  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  paper  on  As  You 
Like  It,  set  in  the  Oxford  local  examinations  for  Junior  candidates,  in 
July,  1900:  — 

1.  On  what  occasions  does  Touchstone  appear  in  this  Play?  De- 
scribe briefly  the  part  he  played  on  each  occasion. 

2.  Give  the  meaning  of  the  following  words,  and  quote  the  passage 
in  which  each  occurs :  allottery,  quintain,  umber,  priser,  quotidian, 
leer,  hurtling,  thrasonical. 

3.  Describe  the  character  of  either  (.;)  Jaques  or  [b)  Rosalind. 

4.  Give  an  account  of  the  plot  of  this  play 

5.  By  whom  and  on  what  occasions  are  the  following  mentioned  in 
this  Play.' —  Robin  Hood  of  England,  Juno's  swans,  all  the  firstborn 
of  Eg}-pt,  Gargantua's  mouth,  Leander. 

6.  Quote  either  the  passage  beginning  "  And  one  man  in  his  time 
plays  many  parts  "  and  ending  "  The  sixth  age  shifts  into  the  lean  and 
slippered  pantaloon;  "  or,  the  passage  beginning"  Hath  not  old  custom 
made  this  life,"  etc.,  and  ending  "I  would  not  change  it." 

See  also  the  essay  on  "The  Teaching  of  English  Literature,"  in 
D.  C.  Tovey,  Reviews  and  Essays  in  English  Literature,  Bell,  1S97. 

2  All  who  have  studied  the  English  secondary  schools  seem  agreed 
on  this  main  point  of  difference  between  the  English  educational  system 
and  that  of  other  countries.  See,  for  example,  J.  J.  Findlay's  "  Education 
in  England,"  in  Beiblatt  zur  Anglia,  Nov.  i,  1891,  p.  236.  Even  in  the 
"  modern  "  (non-classical)  course,  English  apparently  amounts  to  little. 
Indeed,  the  term  "  English "  seems  often  to  be  applied  to  history, 
political  economy,  or  any  subject  studied  in  the  native  language.  The 
latest  Royal  Commission  on  Secondarj-  Education  (1S95)  has  little  to 
say  about  the  matter  except  that  "  it  is  now  generally  agreed  that 
besides  that  literary  and  humanistic  course  of  instruction,  based  upon 
the  languages  of  classical  antiquity,  which  tradition  has  established 
among  us,  and  whose  incomparable  value  tio  thoughtful  man  denies,  ample 
provision  must  be  made  for  scientific  teaching.  ...  It  is  further  agreed 
that  .  .  .  the  chief  tongues  of  Europe  ought  to  be  studied  not  only  as 
instruments  of  linguistic  training  but  as  the  keys  to  noble  literatures." 
Report  of  the  Commissioners,  1895,  I.  284. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years,  and  after  much  debate,  that 
instruction  in  English,  and  particularly  in  English  literature,  has  been 


THE   STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      29 

Latin  composition,  and  such  practice  as  is  sometimes  given 
in  essay  writing  is  cursory  and  incidental.  The  efforts  of 
educational  reformers  appear  to  be  almost  exclusively  directed 
to  pressing  the  claims  of  the  modern  foreign  languages  and  of 
the  sciences,  and  to  the  attempt  —  so  far  without  complete 
success  —  to  obtain  an  organized  system  of  elementary  and 
secondary  instruction  similar  to  that  established  in  all  other 
civilized  countries.  Such  training  in  their  native  language  as 
English  boys  receive  in  the  secondary  schools  is  thus  almost 
entirely  confined  to  what  may  be  obtained  incidentally  in  the 
course  of  their  instruction  in  Latin  and  Greek,  in  accordance 
with  the  theory  enunciated  by  Thomas  Arnold,  who  declared 
that  "  every  lesson  in  Greek  or  Latin  may  or  ought  to  be  made 
a  lesson  in  English ;  the  translation  of  every  sentence  in 
Demosthenes  or  Tacitus  is  properly  an  exercise  in  extempo- 
raneous English  composition,  —  a  problem  how  to  express  with 
equal  brevity,  clearness,  and  force,  in  our  own  language,  the 
thoughts  which  the  author  has  so  admirably  expressed  in  his." 
The  typical  English  schools  of  to-day  may,  therefore,  be  de- 
scribed, so  far  as  the  teaching  of  the  English  language  and  liter- 
ature goes,  as  in  much  the  same  condition  as  were  English  as  a 
the  old  New  England  classical  academies,  such  as  ^y-Product. 
Phillips  Andover  and  Phillips  Exeter,  up  to  within  a  few  years. 
At  their  best,  they  teach  English  through  Latin,  securing  such 
knowledge  and  training  as  is  necessary  as  a  sort  of  by-product. 
The  reader  must  be  careful,  however,  not  to  infer  that,  because 
English  is  not  explicitly  taught  in  classical  schools  of  this  sort, 


admitted  to  any  recognized  place  in  British  universities.  See  J.  C. 
Collins,  The  Study  of  English  Literature,  Macmillan,  1891,  and  "English 
Literature  and  How  to  Study  It,"  Fall  Mall  Gazette  extra,  No.  32,  Jan. 
20,  18S7.  The  absence  of  plan  in  secondary  instruction  in  English  in 
Great  Britain  can  be  seen  in  P.  A.  Barnett's  Teaching  and  Organization 
7U!th  special  Reference  to  Secondary  Schools,  Longmans,  1S97.  One  of 
the  few  attempts  to  introduce  modern  methods  in  the  teaching  of  English 
composition  is  L.  C.  Cornford's  English  Composition,  a  Manual  of 
Theory  and  Practice,  Nutt,  1900.  Reviewed  (unfavourably)  in  The 
[London]  Academy,  Nov.  24,  1900. 


30       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

the  pupils  are  necessarily  deficient  in  the  power  of  using  their 
native  tongue  with  correctness  and  skill.  This  may  or  may  not 
be  the  case.  Ability  to  speak  a  language  correctly  depends 
more  upon  home  influences  and  out-of-school  associations  than 
upon  school  training.  The  habit  of  talking  and  writing  sensi- 
bly, which  may  be  secured  through  drill  in  English  composition, 
may  also  be  secured  indirectly  through  any  or  all  kinds  of  sound 
mental  discipline.  In  the  English  secondary  schools  a  far 
greater  number  of  pupils  come  from  well-to-do  or  educated 
families  than  in  the  United  States.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
therefore,  that  in  many  cases  English  boys  who  have  not  been 
trained  in  English  speak  and  write  as  correctly  as  American  or 
German  boys  who  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  considerable 
amount  of  instruction  in  their  native  language  ;  nor  would  such 
a  state  of  things  count  against  those  who  are  in  favour  of  mak- 
ing the  mother-tongue  one  of  the  most  important  elements  in 
secondary  education. 

British  conservatism  in  education,  which  results  in  her  making 
use  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  education  to  the  almost  complete 
The  Native  exclusion  of  English,  forces  us  to  look  elsewhere,  if 
ConUnen^tal"  ^'^  ^^  ^'^^  °^''  ^oc^^ls  in  the  teaching  of  a  native 
Europe.  language.     In  elementary  instruction  the  mother- 

tongue  is,  throughout  the  civilized  world,  given  special  promi- 
nence and  attention.  It  is  in  regard  to  its  use  in  secondary 
education  that  there  is  a  difference  in  national  opinion.  In 
England,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  virtually  dispensed  with.  On 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  however,  we  find  a  different  state  of 
affairs.  The  favoured  schools  in  most  countries  are,  to  be  sure, 
the  institutions  in  which  Latin  and  Greek  are  made  the  most 
important  subjects  of  instruction.  With  almost  no  exceptions 
throughout  Continental  Europe,  public  opinion  and  govern- 
mental regulation  treat  men  in  whose  education  neither  Latin 
nor  Greek  has  played  a  part  as  relegated  to  a  lower  sphere  of 
life  and  as  practically  to  be  excluded  from  the  "  learned  "  pro- 
fessions. On  the  other  hand,  in  contrast  to  English  conditions, 
there  is  apparently  no  system  of  recognized  secondary  instruc- 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      3 1 

tion  ill  any  other  European  state  which  does  not  possess,  run- 
ning from  the  lowest  class  through  the  highest,  a  definite,  well- 
planned,  and  carefully  graded  course  of  instruction  in  the 
language  and  literature  of  the  native  tongue. 

It  is  at  first  surprising  to  find  that  this  is  the  case  not  only  in 
France  and  Germany,  but  in  the  less  conspicuous  nations.     The 

statistics  given  in  such   works,   however,  as   Bau- 

•     r/-      JL      7   J       r^      •  ,  1  rr  .  ,  The  General 

meister  s  Hatidbucn  der  Rrzieniings  una  Unternchts-  Situation  in 

,  ,         ...,..,  o  7    7  1  ,         •      T^       •       •  Continental 

lehre  fur  ho/iere  Scnulen,  show  that  in  Russia,  m  Europe. 

Hungary,  in  Belgium,  as  well  as  in  all  the  Scandinavian  countries, 
—  in  short,  wherever  there  is  a  strong  national  sentiment,  — 
liberal  provision  is  made  for  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue 
throughout  the  secondary  course.  Such  study  includes  thorough 
instruction  in  the  grammar  of  the  language,  practical  and  histor- 
ical, in  composition  in  the  native  tongue,  in  the  history  of  the 
national  literature,  and  in  the  reading  and  study  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  selected  masterpieces.  Some  attention  to  the  earher 
forms  of  the  language  and  to  the  older  literature  is  almost  in- 
variably given.  Many  or  all  of  these  systems  will  repay  careful 
examination.  For  lack  of  space,  however,  we  must  confine 
ourselves  to  a  brief  summary  of  the  course  of  secondary  in- 
struction in  the  mother-tongue  now  current  in  Germany.^ 

German    secondary   schools    are    divided    into   three   main 
classes  :  the  Gymnasien  or  classical  schools,  in  which  Latin  and 
Greek  are  the  main  objects  of  instruction ;  the  Real- 
gymtiasien,  in  which  Latin  is  required  but  not  Greek,    the  Study  of 
and  which  therefore  answers  to  the  ordinary  classi- 
cal course  in  the  American  high  school ;  and  the  Real-schulen, 
in  which  neither  Latin  nor  Greek  is  required.     In  the  first,  the 
time  allotted  to  German  is  now,  in  Prussia,  about  three  hours 
a  week  ;  in  the  second  and  third,  slightly  more,  but  not  quite, 
on  an  average,  four  hours.     The  amount  was  formerly  somewhat 


1  Full  and  definite  information  regarding  German  secondary  instruc- 
tion in  the  native  language  may  be  found  in  the  admirable  books  of 
Professor  Russell  and  Mr.  Bolton,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for 
further  details. 


32       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

less  in  all  of  these,  having  been  increased  by  the  ministerial  re- 
script of  1892,  to  effect  which  the  present  emperor,  then  in  the 
early  years  of  his  reign,  used  his  strong  influence,  declaring 
in  very  noble  words  ^  that  German  schools  should  breed  Ger- 
man citizens  and  soldiers,  with  an  understanding  of  the  national 
language  and  a  love  and  appreciation  of  the  national  literature. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  good  American  high  schools  and  acad- 
emies give  as  much  time  as  this  to  English,  and  that  some  of 
the  best  give  even  more.  The  advantage  which  Germany  has 
over  the  United  States  in  this  respect,  therefore,  is  merely  that 
all  authorized  German  schools  are  required  to  allot  so  much 
time  to  German,  and  actually  do  so,  whereas  in  the  United 
States  many  schools  lag  far  behind  their  more  enlightened 
brothers.  Three  hours  a  week  throughout  the  course  may, 
then,  be  regarded  as  all  that  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
objects  which  modern  education  has  in  mind  in  the  study  of 
the  mother-tongue  in  secondary  schools.^ 

With  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  teachers  German  regula- 
tions are  infinitely  superior  to  our  own.  Teachers  of  any  sub- 
Qualifications  j^ct  must  have  finished  their  gymnasium  course, 
of  Teachers.  ^^^^  \\dMQ  spent  at  least  three  years  in  university 
study.  The  average  is  four  or  five  years  of  university  study. 
That  is  to  say,  translating  the  requirements  into  terms  appli- 
cable to  American  education,  teachers  must  have  spent  six  to 
seven  years  in  undergraduate  and  post-graduate  study.  In  ad- 
dition, they  must  have  passed  a  severe  state  examination,  which 
tests  (i)  their  understanding  of  philosophy,  psychology,  and 


1  "Whoever  has  been  in  the  gymnasium  himself,  and  has  caught  a 
glimpse  behind  the  scenes,  knows  what  is  lacking  there.  Above  all  the 
national  basis  is  lacking.  We  must  take  the  German  language  as  the 
foundation  for  the  gymnasium ;  we  should  educate  national  young  Ger- 
mans and  not  Greeks  and  Romans.  We  must  depart  entirely  from  the 
basis  that  existed  for  centuries  —  from  the  old  monastic  education  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  where  the  standard  was  Latin  with  a  little  Greek  added." 
Quoted  in  Bolton,  Secondary  School  System  in  Germany,  p.  154. 

-  Provided,  of  course,  that  correct  habits  of  expression  are  inculcated 
in  all  other  subjects  of  study. 


THE   STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      33 

education  ;  (2)  their  scholarship  in  the  field  in  which  they  have 
specialized,  and  in  which  they  wish  to  give  instruction ;  and 
(3)  their  knowledge  of  some  allied  subject,  such  as  English 
or  French  in  the  case  of  teachers  of  German.  The  specific 
requirements  for  teachers  of  German  are  summarized  as  follows 
by  Mr.  Bolton  :  — 

"  Without  going  into  details  concerning  the  qualifications 
required  for  teachers  of  the  mother-tongue,  it  will  suffice  to  say 
that  no  mere  ability  to  recite  grammatical  or  rhetorical  rules, 
nor  a  simple  smattering  of  literature  is  deemed  sufficient.  No 
dilettanteism  is  allowed.  Nothing  short  of  a  thoroughly  critical 
knowledge  of  the  linguistic  science  of  the  language  and  the 
ability  to  make  scholarly  literary  criticism  will  be  accepted. 
The  historical  development  of  the  language  must  have  been 
studied,  and  also  that  of  the  languages  from  which  it  has  been 
derived.  Gothic,  Old  High  German,  and  Middle  High  German 
must  be  easily  read  and  understood,  and  some  acquaintance 
with  their  literature  must  have  been  acquired."  ^ 

The  extraordinary  differences  between  the  conditions  thus 
indicated  and  those  existing  in  the  United  States  will  be  appar- 
ent when  we  reflect  that,  taking  the  country  up  and  down, 
certainly  half  our  high  school  teachers  of  English  have  not  had 
even  college  instruction  in  that  subject,  much  less  university 
instruction  ;  have  no  special  knowledge  of  the  history  of  our 
language  and  literature  ;  and  are  incompetent,  from  any  rational 
point  of  view,  to  give  thorough  instruction  in  their  native  tongue. 
Certainly  not  one-tenth  of  them,  in  spite  of  the  rapidly  increas- 
ing strictness  of  our  city  and  state  boards  of  education,  have 
qualifications  corresponding  to  those  required  by  law  of  every 
teacher  of  German  in  Germany.  The  German  requirements, 
like  the  German  system,  savour  of  pedantn,',  but  it  will  be  long 
before  we  can  secure,  in  our  own  secondary  schools,  teachers  so 
broadly  educated  and  well  informed  on  their  special  subjects. 

The  aims  to  be  kept  in  view  by  the  secondary  jj^imsof 
teacher  of  German  are  thus  stated  in  the  Prussian  Instruction, 
regulations ;  — 


^  Bolton,  Secondary  School  System  of  Germany,  65. 


34       THE  STUDY  OF  THE   MOTHER-TONGUE     - 

"  Next  to  religion  and  history,  German  is  the  subject  which 
is  of  the  greatest  moral  importance  in  the  organic  life  of  our 
high  schools.  The  task  assigned  to  it  is  one  of  peculiar  diffi- 
culty, and  the  necessary  conditions  for  its  successful  accom- 
plishment are  a  thorough  comprehension  of  our  language  and 
history  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  an  enthusiastic  admiration 
for  the  treasures  of  our  literature,  and  a  deep  sense  of  patriot- 
ism, whereby  he  may  be  able  to  instil  into  the  sensitive  hearts 
of  our  young  people  enthusiasm  for  the  German  language,  for 
the  German  people,  and  for  the  greatness  of  the  German 
intellect."  ^ 

Such  statements  have  undoubtedly  a  naiVe  air,  and  give  one 
the  idea  that  the  conception  of  German  greatness  thus  imparted 
to  the  pupil  must  be  both  mechanical  and  sentimental ;  but  at 
bottom  the  principle  is  sound.  There  is  no  better  way  of 
bringing  young  people  to  realize  the  essential  elements  of  na- 
tional life  and  character  than  through  the  careful,  loving,  and 
systematic  study  of  the  national  language,  the  national  literature, 
and  the  national  history.  What  Prussia  thus  explicitly  an- 
nounces as  a  part  of  the  governmental  policy  is,  explicitly  or 
implicitly,  a  part  of  educational  policy  in  all  the  great  European 
nations,  except  England.  In  the  United  States  we  clearly 
must  insist  on  a  more  general  and  systematic  adoption  of  the 
same  policy. 

A  further  point  in  which  we  may  with  advantage  study  the 
treatment  of  the  mother-tongue  in  Germany  is  that  of  the  gen- 
The  System  of  ^^^^  interest  in  the  organization  of  this  branch  of 
Instruction,  teaching  as  a  system.  American  educational  peri- 
odicals contain  numerous  articles  on  special  points  connected 
with  the  teaching  of  English,  and  there  are  several  books  deal- 
ing with  the  subject  as  a  whole  ;  but  these  articles  and  trea- 
tises are  almost  without  exception  the  result  merely  of  individual 
or  local  experience.  Each  expresses  a  different  point  of  view, 
and  has  little  in  common  with  others.  This  is  perhaps  espe- 
cially the  case  with  articles  on  English  in  the  secondary  schools. 


1  "Curricula    and    Programmes    of    Work    for    Higher    Schools    in 
Prussia,"  in  Special  Reports  on  Educational  Subjects,  III,  271. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      35 

bout  wliich  there  were  no  signs  of  a  common  basis  of  agree- 
lent,  in  point  of  method  or  system,  until  the  appearance  of  the 
luch  discussed  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  in  1S94.  In 
nis  respect  the  Germans  are  more  fortunate ;  they  have  years 
go  passed  from  the  stage  of  aimless  discussion  of  individual 
incies  and  local  preferences  to  a  stage  characterized  by  a  gen- 
ral  consensus  of  opinion  on  essential  matters,  and  to  a  convic- 
on  that  the  teaching  of  the  mother-tongue,  from  first  to  last, 
an  be  well  planned  and  well  executed  only  when  all  its  parts 
re  considered  in  their  logical  relations  as  members  of  a  single 
rganism.^ 

Systematic  descriptions  of  the  German  course  of  study  in  the 
lother-tongue  may  be  found  in  the  article  by  Mr.  Dale  and  the 
orks  by  Mr.  Bolton  and  Professor  Russell.  Pro-  course  of 
;ssor  Russell's  chapter  on  this  subject,  in  particular,  ^^<^y- 
lould  be  read  and  pondered  by  every  one  intending  to  teach 
Inglish  in  the  secondary  schools.  The  essential  characteristics 
f  the  course  of  study  are  as  follows  :  — 

(i)  As  has  been  said,  it  is,  from  beginning  to  end,  a  well- 
lanned  and  well-balanced  system,  the  result  of  the  experience 
f  more  than  half  a  century. 

(2)  It  is  virtually  the  same  for  students  preparing  for  the  uni- 
^rsity  and  those  preparing  for  professional  or  business  life. 

(3)  It  is  not  divided  into  "language  "  and  -'grammar  "  and 
literature"  and  "'rhetoric"  and  "composition,"  and  other 
nail  portions.  It  is  a  course  in  German,  but  in  it  one  element 
'ter  another  is  given  the  attention  it  deserves. 

(4)  Grammar  is  taught  indirectly  and  progressively  in  con- 
ection  with  the  study  of  literature  and  not  by  disconnected 
nitences. 


1  For  German  theories  as  to  methods  of  teaching  German,  see  the 
orks  mentioned  in  the  bibliography  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  and 
e  references  appended  to  Chapter  XII.  of  Russell's  German  Higher 
-.hools,  especially  the  articles  in  Baumeister's  Handbuch  der  Erziehungs- 
•id  Unttrrichtslehre  filr  h'dhere  Sckulen  and  Rein's  Encyklopadischei 
^andbiich  der  Pddagogik. 


36       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

(5)  Emphasis  is  laid,  throughout  the  course,  on  oral  compo- 
sition, particularly  in  the  form  of  paraphrase  and  of  full  answers 
to  leading  questions  in  recitations  in  all  subjects. 

(6)  The  foremost  element  is  always  literature,  studied  largely 
through  carefully  graded  reading-books,  which  are  prepared 
with  a  view  to  giving  the  pupil  a  knowledge  of  the  best,  the  most 
suitable,  and  the  most  inspiring  parts  of  his  native  literature. 

(7)  Correct  and  accurate  use  of  language  is  insisted  upon  in 
all  subjects. 

(8)  During  the  period  of  elementary  and  secondary  educa- 
tion, which  may  be  considered  as  closing  with  the  seventh  year 
of  the  gymnasium  course,  i.e.,obersecunda^  a  great  deal  of  ground 
is  thus  covered,  as  will  be  indicated  by  the  course  of  study  out- 
lined for  obersecunda :  — 

"  (a)  Composition  at  home  and  in  class  ;  shorter  essays  on 
topics  drawn  from  the  general  instruction  ;  about  eight  essays  in 
the  school  year,  (b)  Introduction  to  the  Nibelungetilied  \n  the 
original  text ;  the  courtly  epic  and  lyric,  (c)  General  review  of 
styles  of  poetry,  (d)  Readingof  Dramas  :  Wallenstein,  Egmotit, 
Goetz.  (e)  Occasional  committing  to  memory  of  selections 
from  the  reading  ;  original  discourses  by  the  students  upon  the 
contents  of  the  more  significant  poems  of  middle-high  German 
and  of  modern  dramas." 

Such,  in  its  main  oudines,  is  the  instruction  in  the  mother- 
tongue  in  Germany.     We  have  seen  that  in  England  similar  in- 
struction is  unsatisfactory  and  incomplete,  owing  to 

Sntnmflry. 

the  peculiar  character  of  the  education  given  in  the 
great  "  public  "  schools  and  the  general  lack  of  organization  in 
the  elementary  and  secondary  school  system.  In  France,  and 
in  the  other  important  European  countries,  the  plan,  aim,  and 
system  of  instruction  are  much  the  same  as  in  Germany.  Hav- 
ing now  some  idea  of  the  importance  given  to  the  subject  in 
other  lands,  and  of  the  system  in  vogue  there,  we  may  turn  to 
the  development  of  similar  instruction  in  the  United  States. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      37 


III.   The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  United  States 

The  situation  in  the  United  States  was  from  the  first  in  many 
respects  different  from  that  in  Europe.  The  colonists,  especially 
those  emiiiratimr  for  political  or  religious  reasons, 

had  broken  away  —  at  least,  in  many  points  —  from   Weakening 
,.  .  ^    ,         ,  ^  of  Tradition. 

European  traditions  in  matters  of  thought.  Capa- 
ble of  conceiving  of  another  order  of  things  than  that  existent 
in  politics  and  religion,  early  forced  to  depend  on  their  own 
resources  and  to  adapt  themselves  and  their  desires  to  the 
requirements  of  a  new  environment,  they  had  obviously  the 
advantage  of  beingvless  influenced  by  systems  of  education ) 
which  had  already  lost  their  value.  It  was  natural  that,  from' 
the  eighteenth  century  on,  there  should  have  been  a  strong 
American  party  disbelieving  in  the  old  *'  classical  "  training  and 
having  ready  at  hand  a  supposedly  sufficient  substitute.  Frank- 
lin, always  so  typical  of  the  New  England  and  the  Middle 
States,  wrote,  in  1789,  the  following  justification  of  a  plan 
formulated  by  him  in  1749:^  — 

"The  origin  of  Latin  and  Greek  schools  among  the  different 
nations  of  Europe  is  known  to  have  been  this  :  That  until  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  years  past  there  were  no  books  in 
any  other  language  ;  all  the  knowledge  then  contained  in  books, 
viz.,  the  theology,  the  jurisprudence,  the  physic,  the  art  military, 
the  politics,  the  mathematics  and  mechanics,  the  natural  and 
moral  philosophy,  the  logic  and  rhetoric,  the  chemistry,  the 
pharmacy,  the  architecture,  and  every  other  branch  of  science, 
being  in  those  languages,  it  was,  of  course,  necessary  to  learn 
them  as  the  gates  through  which  men  must  pass  to  get  at  that 
knowledge. 

"The  books  then  existing  were  manuscript,  and  these  conse- 
quently so  dear  that  only  a  few  wealthy,  inclined  to  learning. 


1  Observations  Relative  to  the  Intentions  of  the  Ori:^i)ial  Founders  of  the 
Acadetny  in  Philadelphia.  Reprinted,  with  a  discussion  of  Franklin's 
ideas  on  education,  in  F.  C.  Thorpe's  Benjamin  Franklin  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  Bureau  of  Education,  Circular  of  Information,  No. 
2,  1892,  pp.  39  ff.  The  original  plan  is  described  in  the  same  treatise, 
pp.  36  ff. 


38       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

could  afford  to  purchase  them.  The  common  people  were  not 
even  at  the  pains  of  learning  to  read,  because,  after  taking  that 
pains,  they  would  have  nothing  to  read  that  they  could  under- 
stand without  learning  the  ancient  languages,  nor  then,  without 
money  to  purchase  the  manuscripts ;  and  so  few  were  the 
learned  readers  sixty  years  after  the  invention  of  printing  that  it 
appears  by  letters  still  extant  between  the  printers  in  1499  ^'''^-t 
they  could  not  throughout  Europe  find  purchasers  for  more  than 
three  hundred  copies  of  any  ancient  authors.  But  printing  be- 
ginning now  to  make  books  cheap,  the  readers  increased  so 
much  as  to  make  it  worth  while  to  write  and  print  books  in  the 
vulgar  tongue.  At  "first  these  were  chiefly  books  of  devotion 
and  little  histories.  Gradually  several  branches  of  science  be- 
gan to  appear  in  the  common  languages,  and  at  this  day  the 
whole  body  of  science,  consisting  not  only  of  translations  from  all 
the  valuable  ancients,  but  of  all  the  new  modern  discoveries,  is 
to  be  met  with  in  those  languages,  so  that  learning  the  ancient 
for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  knowledge  is  become  absolutely 
unnecessary. 

"  But  there  is  in  mankind  an  unaccountable  prejudice  in 
favour  of  ancient  customs  and  habitudes,  which  inclines  to  a 
continuance  of  them  after  the  circumstances  which  formerly 
made  them  useful  cease  to  exist.  A  multitude  of  instances 
might  be  given,  but  it  may  suffice  to  mention  one.  Hats  were 
once  thought  a  useful  part  of  dress  ;  they  kept  the  head  warm 
and  screened  it  from  the  violent  impression  of  the  sun's  rays, 
and  from  the  rain,  snow,  hail,  etc.,  though,  by  the  way,  this  was 
not  the  more  ancient  opinion  or  practice.  From  among  all  the  re- 
mains of  antiquity,  the  bustoes,^tatues,basso-relievos, medals, etc., 
which  are  infinite,  there  is  no  representation  of  the  human  figure 
with  a  hat  or  cap  on,  nor  any  covering  for  the  head,  unless  it  be 
the  head  of  a  soldier,  who  has  a  helmet ;  but  that  is  evidently 
not  a  part  of  dress  for  health  but  as  a  protection  from  the  strokes 
of  a  weapon. 

"At  what  time  hats  were,  first  introduced  we  know  not,  but 
in  the  last  century  they  were  universally  worn  throughout 
Europe.  Gradually,  however,  as  the  wearing  of  wigs  and  hair 
nicely  dressed  prevailed,  the  putting  on  of  hats  was  disused  by 
genteel  people,  lest  the  curious  arrangements  of  the  curls  and 
povvdering  should  be  disordered,  and  umbrellas  began  to  supply 
their  place  ;  yet  still  our  considering  the  hat  as  a  part  of  the 
dress  continues  so  far  to  prevail  that  a  man  of  fashion  is  not 
thought  dressed  without  having  one,  or  something  like  one, 
about  him  which  he  carries  under  his  arm.     So  that  there  are  a 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      39 

multitude  of  the  politer  people  in  all  the  courts  in  capital  cities 
of  Europe  who  have  never,  nor  their  fathers  before  them,  worn 
a  hat  otherwise  than  as  a  c/iapeau  bras,  though  the  utility  of  such 
a  mode  of  wearing  it  is  by  no  means  apparent,  and  it  is  attended 
not  only  with  some  expense  but  with  a  degree  of  constant 
trouble.  The  still  prevailing  custom  of  having  schools  for  teach- 
ing generally  our  children  in  these  days  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  I  consider  therefore  in  no  other  light  than  as  the 
chapeaii  bras  of  modern  literature." 

The  early  American  colonists,  and  particularly  the  New  Eng- 
land colonists,  were  early  moved  to  provide  for  the  elementary 
teaching  of  the  mother-tongue.  The  development  Elementary 
of  the  instruction  in  English  given  in  American  Schools, 
schools,  from  the  colonial  days  to  the  present  time,  may  be  best 
treated  under  the  successive  heads  of  elementary  schools,  classi- 
cal schools,  academies,  high  schools  and  colleges.  In  the  opinion 
of  the  New  Englanders  it  was  indispensable  that  the  citizen 
should  be  able  to  read  and  to  write.  Especially  must  every  citi- 
zen be  able  to  read,  for  otherwise  he  would  not  be  able  to 
understand  the  civil  law,  as  laid  down  in  the  statute  books  of 
the  state  and  the  community,  nor,  more  important  yet,  would 
he  be  able  to  understand  the  law  of  God  as  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures.  In  1642  and  1647  ^^^^'^  ^^^^^  passed  in  Massachu- 
setts expressly  stating  these  political  and  religious  reasons 
for  the  study  of  English  and  establishing  schools  for  that  pur- 
pose in  all  townships  of  more  than  fifty  households.  It  is  a  tra- 
dition that,  in  some  isolated  communities,  children  then  used 
birchbark  for  paper  and  were  taught  in  turn  by  the  educated 
adults.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  during  the  long  period  of 
political  disturbance,  the  elementary  schools  languished,  but 
they  revived  in  the  subsequent  period  of  peace  and  prosperity. 
For  two  centuries  the  instruction,  according  to  the  old  saying, 
consisted  of  the  three  R's,  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  —  a 
fact  which  implies  that  practically  two-thirds  of  the  attention 
was  given  to  the  study  of  the  native  language.  This  study  was, 
in  many  respects,  unintelligent.  The  method  of  learning  to  read 
savoured  of  the  Middle  Ages.     Children  were  taught  to  spell  in 


40       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

the  most  cumbrous  way  imaginable.  Tliere  was  a  similar  waste 
of  time  and  effort  in  the  instruction  in  writing.  The  other 
branches  of  English  study  were  simply  grammar  and  exercises 
in  reading.  The  grammar,  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of  the 
time,  was  artificial  in  the  extreme,  and  eventually  aroused  a  pro- 
found reaction  against  any  formal  system  of  grammatical  teach- 
ing. The  reading  was  carried  on  in  an  equally  artificial  way, 
was  largely  elocutionary  in  its  basis,  and  had  nothing  of  the 
value  of  an  approach  to  literature.  Even  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, with  methods  so  primitive,  the  fundamental  ob- 
jects were  roughly  accomplished,  and,  throughout  the  United 
States,  children  of  school  age  learned  the  two  great  hereditary 
secrets  of  civilization  —  the  art  of  reading  and  the  art  of 
writing.  It  was  not  until  late  in  the  nineteenth  century  that 
the  people  as  a  whole  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  elementary 
school  system  must  be  greatly  improved.  Instruction  in  Eng- 
lish, from  about  1870  on,  changed  rapidly.  At  first  it  was 
the  large  city  schools,  or  those  in  favoured  communities,  that 
were  thus  re-organized,  but  the  new  ideas  spread  quickly,  and 
at  the  present  time  in  a  large  part  of  the  country,  elementary 
instruction  in  English  is  organized  and  carried  on  in  an  intelli- 
gent way. 

And  yet  it  is  just  to  say  that,  in  spite  of  antique  and  barbarous 
methods,  the  old  training  in  English  was  often  extremely  suc- 
Theinteiii-  cessful.  This  was  partly  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
Old  Com-^^  community.  In  an  exceedingly  interesting  and  im- 
munities, portant  essay  on  Early  Common  Schools  of  Netu 
England,^  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo  says  of  the  old  New  England  schools 
and  communities  what  was  at  a  later  period  equally  true  of  many 
Western  schools  and  communities  :  — 

"  The  one  fact  apparent  to  every  well-informed  person  in  this 
period  of  the  life  of  New  England  in  general,  and  Massachu- 
setts in  particular,  is  that  there  was  in  every  region  of  society  a 
profound  respect  for  education  and  a  universal  habit  of  rever- 


1  In  U.  S.  Educational  Report,  1894-895,  II.  1551-1615. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE   MOTHER-TONGUE      4I 

ence  for  an  educated  class.  In  every  little  town,  however 
backward,  there  were  children  and  youth  whose  proficiency  in 
the  common  school  and  love  for  study  made  them  conspicuous, 
'  the  town  talk.'  The  deep  interest  with  which  the  progress  of 
such  a  boy  or  girl  was  watched,  and  the  great  efforts  of  parents, 
friends,  often  strangers,  to  aid  any  capable  and  aspiring  student 
in  'getting  an  education,'  were  a  beautiful  feature  of  the  town 
life.  The  clergy  were  especially  noted  for  this  patriotic  spirit. 
They  were  generally  members  of  the  school  committees  and 
often  watched  the  schools  with  sleepless  vigilance.  Their  sons 
and  daughters  were  often  the  teachers,  and  every  country  min- 
ister of  any  pretension  to  scholarship  drew  about  him  a  group  of 
bright  young  people  for  mental  improvement,  often  '  fitting  for 
college  '  those  who  were  unable  to  pay  the  expense  of  attend- 
ance on  a  classical  seminary.  The  district  school  shared  with 
the  church  the  constant  interest  of  the  people  in  all  save  ex- 
ceptional towns.  In  the  dearth  of  popular  amusements  and 
an  exciting  outward  life,  its  goings  on  were  canvassed  in  every 
household,  and  the  influence  of  the  superior  people  was  a 
powerful  factor  in  its  success. 

"  The  college  and  academy  were  at  that  time  a  far  more  pro- 
nounced subject  of  general  interest  than  at  present.  There 
was,  in  the  rural  districts  and  the  villages,  practically  no  element 
of  population  supplied  from  '  foreign  parts,'  and  no  organized 
religion  opposed  to  the  prevailing  Protestant  church.  .  .  .  Not- 
withstanding the  dearth  of  books  for  general  circulation  and 
the  feeble  estate  of  journalism,  there  were  still,  in  almost  every 
town,  small  collections  of  good  English  literature  accessible  to 
every  eager  youth.  It  was  a  fixed  habit  of  the  men  to  meet  at 
the  village  store,  the  shoemaker's,  blacksmith's,  and  carpenter's 
shops,  the  various  mills,  especially  the  gristmill  and  sawmill,  to 
hear  the  weekly  '  paper  '  read,  and  to  thoroughly  discuss  its 
contents,  and  this  kept  alive  an  intense  interest  in  the  discus- 
sion of  all  affairs  of  public  and  local  interest.  A  New  England 
town  of  one  thousand  people,  seventy-five  years  ago,  with  a 
village  at  the  centre  of  half  a  hundred  houses,  during  the  long 
winter  months  shut  up  from  travel,  with  all  its  energies  turned 
in  upon  itself,  was  a  battery  of  electric  brains.  Men,  women, 
and  the  older  children  were  in  constant  social  communication, 
meeting  often  several  times  a  week  at  church,  lyceum,  and 
visiting  ;  kept  alive  by  a  vital  interest  in  all  things  important  to 
a  good  community.  The  one  unfortunate  habit  of  '  drink,' 
which  was  the  scourge  of  so  many  of  these  places,  had  not  yet 
undermined  the  personal  virtue  of  the  people  to  a  dangerous 


42       THE   STUDY  OF    THE    MOTHER-TONGUE 

degree ;  and  the  old-time  style  of  personal  self-respect,  of  non- 
interference with  the  rights,  opinions,  and  even  prejudices  of 
neighbours  and  townsmen,  so  favourable  to  the  growth  of  practi- 
cal good  hving,  original  thinking,  and  common  sense,  was  a 
prodigious  power  in  shaping  the  peculiar  life  of  the  New 
England  town.  And  there  can  be  no  question  that  the 
teachers  of  the  district  schools  in  New  England  during  this 
period  were  drawn  from  a  superior  grade  of  the  population, 
and  in  many  instances  were  more  competent  than  at  the  present 
time." 

It  is  not,  then,  safe  to  assume  that  the  work  done  with  such 
simple  implements  was  badly  done.  The  soil  was  fertile.  Or, 
Textbooks  '°  change  the  figure,  the  boys  of  those  days,  with 
and  Results,  minds  unspoiled  and  attention  undistracted,  were 
able  to  extract,  from  such  crude  books  and  primitive  teaching, 
the  needed  intellectual  nutriment,  as  hardy  bodies  gain  strength 
from  coarse  and  scanty  fare.  Men  trained  in  the  old  schools 
were  no  weaklings,  and  it  does  not  require  research  to  under- 
stand that  the  old  textbooks  and  the  old  methods,  while  includ- 
ing much  that  was  harmful  and  false,  contained  also  much  that 
was  true,  stimulating,  educative.  The  old  Webster's  spelling- 
book  sprang  from  the  profound  conviction  of  the  author  that  a 
nation  of  freemen  must  know  the  outward  form  of  the  words 
that  composed  their  language  ;  and  the  drill  based  on  it,  like 
mental  arithmetic,  cultivated  quickness  and  acuteness  of  mind 
and  accurate  grasp  of  memory.  The  old  grammars  had  a 
similar  but  a  higher  aim.  Every  boy  and  girl,  to  be  worthy  of 
his  lot  or  hers,  must  understand  the  syntactical  relations  that  are 
the  logic  of  language  ;  and  the  endless  drill  in  parsing  and  analy- 
sis, often  distasteful,  usually  resulted  in  giving  the  intelligent 
pupil  an  iron  grasp  upon  the  essentials  of  sentence  structure. 
Of  the  old  readers  even  more  can  be  said.  School  children 
then  read  little  and  they  read  mechanically,  but  they  frequently 
found  in  their  well-thumbed  textbooks  the  most  inspiring  litera- 
ture of  their  race  and  their  time.  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  man  of 
few  books,  said  of  Lindley  Murray's  English  Reader,  that  "  it 
was  the  best  school  book  ever  put  into  the  hands  of  an  Ameri- 


THE   STUDY  OF    THE   MOTHER-TONGUE       43 

can  youth  ; "  '  and  tliere  are  many  to  bear  witness  of  the  intense 
enjoyment  and  stimuUis  derived  both  from  the  readers  com- 
piled (1S20-1S30)  by  John  Pierpont,^  which  were  the  first  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  new  literature  of  the  rising  romantic 
school  of  Irving  and  Bryant,  and  of  Scott,  Byron,  and  Camp- 
bell, and  from  the  more  crude  but  still  excellent  First  School 
Reader  of  Noah  Webster,  the  patriotic  American  Preceptor 
(1794)  and  Colui?ibian  Orator  (1797)  of  Caleb  Bingham,  and 
the  widely  used  series  of  W.  H.  McGuffey  (1850). 

The  colonists  were  not,  however,  without  a  deep  respect  for 
classical  learning,  and  the  Massachusetts  laws  of  1642  and  1647 
provided  for  the  establishment,  in  townships  of  a  xhe  Classical 
hundred  or  more  families,  of  Latin  or  "  grammar '"'  S<^^°°^^- 
schools  on  the  old  English  model,  in  order  that  certain  chosen 
citizens  should  be  taught  the  "  learned  "  languages  as  a  gate  to 
the  "  learned"  professions  ;  and  similar  schools  were  founded  in 
many  other  places  throughout  the  country.  Like  the  elementary 
schools,  the  Latin  schools  declined  during  the  troubled  period 
of  the  eighteenth  century ;  unlike  the  elementary  schools,  how- 
ever, they  fortunately  never  recovered  their  former  status,  being 
rapidly  supplanted  by  the  new  and  interesting  institution  known 
as  the  academy. 


1  W.  II.  Herndon's  Lincoln,  yj. 

~  It  is  impossible  to  avoid  quoting  a  few  noble  sentences  from  Pier- 
pont's  preface  to  the  first  edition  of  the  American  First  Class  Book,  which 
indicate  the  patriotic  fervour  which  pervades  the  book  :  "  Our  country 
both  physically  and  morally  has  a  character  of  its  own.  Should  not 
something  of  that  character  be  learned  by  its  children  while  at  school.' 
Its  mountains  and  prairies  and  lakes  and  rivers  and  cataracts  ;  its  shores 
and  hill-tops  that  were  early  made  sacred  by  dangers  and  sacrifices  and 
deaths  of  the  devout  and  the  daring  ;  it  does  seem  as  if  these  were 
worthy  of  being  held  up  as  objects  of  interest  to  the  young  eyes  that 
from  year  to  year  are  opening  upon  them,  and  worthy  of  being  linked 
with  all  their  sacred  associations  to  the  young  affections,  which  sooner 
or  later  must  be  bound  to  them,  or  they  must  cease  to  be  what  they  now 
are,  —  the  inheritance  and  abode  of  a  free  people!  "  Quoted  in  R.  R. 
Reeder's  Historical  Development  of  School  Readers  and  Method  in  Teach- 
ing Reading,  which  gives  the  latest  and  best  account  of  the  whole 
subject. 


44       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

The  policy  of  establishing  endowed  schools,  attendance  at 
which  should  not  be  confined  to  residents  in  a  given  community, 
■jjjg  and  in  which  the  young  men  of  the  country  at  large 

Academies.  could  be  thoroughly  educated,  whether  they  intended 
to  go  to  college  or  not,  seemed  to  spring  up  almost  spontane- 
ously in  several  of  the  northern  colonies,  and  particularly  in 
Massachusetts.  The  main  idea  was  derived  from  the  similarly 
named  institutions  established  in  England,  from  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century  on,  by  the  dissenting  bodies,  whose 
children  were  not  then  admitted  to  the  Latin  schools  or  the 
universities.  In  America,  as  in  England,  academies  were  in- 
tended partly  to  take  the  place  of  the  local  Latin  schools.  There 
was,  however,  another  element  in  their  constitution  which  was 
particularly  appropriate  in  a  new  country,  namely,  the  concep- 
tion that  they  might  furnish  an  appropriate  general  education 
for  boys  not  entering  the  learned  professions.  This  idea  was 
best  developed  by  the  fertile  mind  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  who, 
in  1749,  proposed  the  founding  in  Philadelphia  of  an  academy 
which  was  to  give  a  sensible,  practical  education  to  young  men 
intended  for  a  commercial  life.^  Latin,  he  held,  was  unneces- 
sary for  such  students,  and  a  thorough  mastery  of  their  native 
language  was  necessary  for  them,  —  a  proposition  which  has 
gained  steadily  in  favour  from  that  time  to  this,  and  been  applied 
to  an  increasingly  large  class  of  students. 

In  so  far  as  they  represented  the  Latin  school,  the  academies 
paid  almost  no  attention  whatever  to  English  instruction.^    Out- 


1  See  above,  p.  37.  Franklin's  plan  was  taken  up  at  once  by  his 
fellow-citizens,  and  the  Philadelphia  Academy  became,  in  course  of  time, 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  not  until  the  original  idea  had  been 
radically  altered. 

2  The  early  records  of  Phillips  Academy  (Andover),  for  instance, 
which  have  been  recently  examined  for  this  purpose,  show  that  only 
English  grammar  was  taught  there  in  1820.  The  first  catalogue,  that  of 
1840,  mentions  only  "  written  translations."  In  1874  there  was  one  ex- 
ercise a  week  in  elocution,  composition,  or  written  translation;  in  1S78, 
two  terms  (and  in  1S79  three  terms)  of  English  grammar  and  analysis. 
In  1S80-1S81  a  few  exercises  in  the  study  of  English  authors  were  given; 


THE   STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      45 

side  the  curriculum  there  were  frequently  debating  societies 
and  literary  clubs ;  inside  the  curriculum  there  was  little  or 
nothing  that  bore  on  the  study  of  the  native  tongue,  Engush  in  the 
except  the  practice  of  translation  from  the  ancient  Academies, 
languages  into  English.  It  is  fair  to  say  that,  even  under  these 
circumstances,  a  good  English  education  was  often  obtained. 
The  interest  of  the  community  in  literature,  in  the  days  of  the 
Puritan  renaissance,  was  such  that  the  eager  boy  could  be  trusted 
voluntarily  to  study  the  great  works  of  his  own  literature,  and 
class-room  instruction  in  Latin  and  Greek  was  carried  on  so 
carefully  that  the  student  was  usually  forced  to  translate  Latin 
into  thoroughly  good  English.  The  result  of  both  influences 
was  that  outside  the  class-room  he  acquired  some  knowledge 
of  literature  and  that  inside  the  class  room  he  often  obtained  a 
meagre  but  sufficient  training  in  accurate  writing. 

In  so  far  as  the  academy  was  a  school  for  the  people,  it  showed 
a  marked  tendency  to  do  away  with  the  classical  languages  and 
to  substitute  mathematics,  the  sciences,  the  modern  languages 
and  English.  English  lagged  somewhat  behind  the  other  sub- 
jects. The  trouble  lay  not  so  much  in  the  lack  of  desire  for 
instruction  as  in  the  general  feeling  that  there  was  no  great  body 
of  instruction  to  give.  After  the  pupils  had  mastered  grammar, 
they  wrote  formal  themes,  they  gave  orations  and  declamations, 
they  studied  treatises  on  rhetoric  and  esthetics  like  those  of 
Blair,  Kames,  and  Campbell,  or  their  American  imitators.  But 
this  meagre  and  formal  course  of  study,  ill-organized,  artificial, 
and  unintelligent,  was  all  that  the  academies  could  offer,  and  it 
is  due  less  to  such  instruction  than  to  the  earnestness  and  vigour 
of  American  communities  that  secondary  students  gained  a 
mastery  over  the  English  language  and  English  literature  further 
than  that  given  by  the  district  school.^ 


in  1885,  reading  for  the  college  requirements.  In  1892,  a  group  of  Eng- 
lish studies  was  introduced,  running  through  the  entire  course.  These 
data  apply  to  classical  students  only. 

^  R.  G.  Boone,  in  his  History  of  Education  in  Indiana,  Appleton,  1892, 
p.   51,  speaking  of   the  education  given  in  the  Western  "  seminaries " 


46       THE  STUDY  OF   THE   MOTHER-TONGUE 

In  the  wonderful  period  of  the  New  England  transcendental 
movement,  the  days  of  a  great  intellectual  awakening  throughout 
The  High  the  people  at  large,  there  appeared  the  most  striking 
Schools.  educational  phenomenon  of  the  last  hundred  years 

in  America,  the  widespread  and  urgent  demand  for  local,  free, 
well-organized  secondary  instruction.  Beginning  in  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  the  two  great  sources  of  educational  prog- 
ress as  long  as  New  England  retained  its  pre-eminence,  it  found 
its  way  throughout  the  Union  and  resulted  in  every  state  in  the 
establishment  of  high  schools.  Like  the  academy,  the  high  school 
was  the  representative  of  two  institutions,  —  the  old  Latin  school 
and  the  new  school  for  the  people  of  which  Franklin  had  dreamed. 
Wherever  the  high  school  represented  the  Latin  school,  —  /.  e.,  in 
its  classical  course,  —  the  study  of  English  scarcely  entered  into 
the  curriculum  ;  wherever  it  represented  the  school  for  the  peo- 
ple—/, e.,  in  its  so-called  English  or  scientific  course  —  English 
was  a  part  of  tlie  curriculum  ;  but  only  to  the  degree  described 
above  in  connection  with  the  academies. 

Up  to  about  1876,  then,  there  was  scarcely  to  be  found,  in 

the    United    States,    any    definite,   well-organized    system    of 

secondary  instruction  in  the  mother-tongue.     We 

Summary.  .        „     .        ,  ,.  .  ,        .^      ,       , 

were  virtually  in  the  same  condition  that  England 

now  is,  and  at  least  fifty  years  behind  Germany.  The  Ameri- 
cans have  always  been  a  reading  people,  and  there  was  a 
growing  interest  among  scholars  and  laymen  in  the  English 
language  and  in  English  literature.  But  only  here  and  there 
had  this  penetrated  into  the  secondary  school   system. 

Up  to  the  nineteenth  century  the  colleges  had  done  practi- 
cally   nothing  in  estabhshing  a  good  system  of  instruction  in 

English.  The  desire  was  absent,  for  such  a  policy 
TheCoUeges.  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  .  /,  '         '' 

would  have  been  destructive  of  the  current  educa- 
tional system.     In   the  American  colleges,  as  in  the  English 


(academies)  of  about  1850,  says  :  "  Rhetoric,  composition,  debates,  dec- 
lamation, the  dictionary  were  much  exalted,  but  were  after  all  regarded 
rather  as  the  common  and  efficient  means  at  hand  toward  a  practical 
preparation  for  civic  and  general  public  duties." 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      47 

universities  at  tlie  present  day,  men  gained  a  mastery  over 
their  mother-tongue  by  translation  or  in  ways  outside  the 
curriculum,  and  no  attempt  was  made  to  prescribe  instruction 
in  the  history  of  the  language,  so  far  as  it  was  known,  or  in  the 
Jiistory  of  its  literature.  The  only  sign  of  the  coming  change 
was  Jefferson's  wish  to  give  a  prominent  place  to  the  study  of 
Anglo-Saxon  in  the  new  University  of  Virginia,^  which  he  had 
planned  with  a  wisdom  at  least  half  a  century  in  advance  of  his 
time.  The  elements  that  make  up  the  modern  curriculum  in 
English,  however,  came  one  by  one  into  existence.  The  first 
was  a  strong  interest  in  declamation  and  oratory,  perhaps  best 
typified  by  the  remarkable  lectures  given  at  Harvard  University, 
in  1 806- 1 80S,  by  John  Quincy  Adams.  The  second,  instruc- 
tion in  rhetoric  and  English  composition,  was  by  the  middle  of 
the  century  well  established  in  several  American  colleges.  The 
third  element,  English  literature,  and  the  fourth,  English  philol- 
ogy,' were  not  generally  introduced,  except  in  a  meagre  fashion, 
until  about  1875.  They  were,  however,  then  developed  with 
great  rapidity. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  English  instruction  in  the  schools 
and  colleges  up  to  about  1876.  It  was  then  that  a  remarkable 
movement  began,  which  had  the  result  of  making  influence  of 
the  study  of  English  pre-eminent  in  the  more  im-  onttesecond- 
portant  colleges  and  putting  it  in  a  distinguished  ^^  Schools, 
place  in  the  secondary  schools.  The  impulse  that  led  to  this 
astonishing  change  in  secondary  instruction  came  partly  from 
the  colleges  and  partly  from  the  secondary  schools  themselves. 
In  1 873-1874  Harvard  instituted  an  entrance  examination 
in  English,  committing  itself  to  a  stand  in  favour  of  gram- 
matical and  rhetorical  accuracy  in   the  use  of  English  on  the 


1  See  Herbert  B.  Adams,  T/iojnas  Jefferson  and  the  University  of 
Virs;i"'a,  in  Circular  of  Information,  No.  I,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education, 
188S,  p.  92. 

2  See  F.  A.  March,  Method  of  Philological  Study  of  the  Eno;lish 
Langnaqe,  1865,  and  "  Recollections  of  Language  Teaching,"  Publica- 
tions of  Modern  Language  Association  of  America,  1S93,  VIII.  (new 
series,  I.). 


48       THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

part  of  students  entering  the  college.^  This  poHcy  was  for 
years  misunderstood  by  preparatory  schools.  An  innovation, 
it  was  thought  to  spring  from  pedantry  and  a  desire  to  burden 
the  schools  with  new  requirements.  At  that  time  the  schools 
gave  practically  no  instruction  in  English,  and  boys  entering 
college  were  quite  likely  to  write  without  grammatical  or 
rhetorical  correctness.  As  the  years  passed  by,  however, 
what  the  Harvard  authorities  desired  became  more  clear,  and 
fitting  schools  throughout  the  country  began  to  prepare  can- 
didates specifically  for  such  examinations.  It  was  then  that 
Yale  University  introduced  a  new  branch  of  English  study  by 
requiring,  at  entrance,  beginning  with  1894,  a  knowledge  of 
the  content  of  certain  comparatively  simple  works  of  English 
literature.  This  requirement  was  apparently  based  upon  the 
theory  that  much  of  the  formal  accuracy  demanded  by  the 
other  system  was  unnecessary  or  unattainable,  that  the  great 
desideratum  was  that  young  students  should  know  and  appreciate 
English  literature,  and  that  in  order  to  do  this  they  must  have 
a  clear  idea  of  what  certain  typical  books  meant.  As  in  the 
former  case,  the  main  requirement  was  usually  misinterpreted 
on  the  part  of  the  fitting  schools,  and  it  was  not  for  several 
years  that  a  study  of  the  content  of  certain  English  masterpieces 
became  an  essential  part  of  the  preparatory  school  curriculum 
in  English. 

The  second  influence,  less  formal  but  more  vital,  came  from 
the  high  schools  themselves.     While  the  attention  of  the  pre- 
paratory schools  was  riveted  on  the  movements  of 
Movement 
in  the  High      the  colleges,  which  they  were  of  necessity  bound  to 

follow  closely,  the  high  schools,  not  obliged  to 
prepare  for  college,  were  freer  to  develop  a  more  ideal  system 
of  national  instruction.  Teachers  like  Dr.  Samuel  Thurber  of 
Boston,  —  to  name  one  of  many,  —  realized,  as  did  men  of  the 
same  rank  and  importance  in  France  and  Germany,  the  duty 


1  See  "  History  of  the  Requirement  in  English  for  Admission  to 
Harvard  College,"  appendix  to  Twenty  Years  of  School  and  College 
English,  Harvard  University,  1896. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      49 

of  the  schools  of  the  people  in  teaching  the  language  of  the 
people,  and  used  every  effort  to  put  the  study  of  English  in  the 
secondary  schools  on  a  firm  basis.  One  of  the  clearest  signs 
of  the  movement  was  the  attention  given  to  such  matters  in 
the  journals  of  education.  In  Dr.  Bacon's  short-lived  publica- 
tion, The  Academy  (1886-92),  the  subject  of  English  received 
more  attention  than  any  other,  and  from  1890  on  the  same 
may  perhaps  be  said  of  every  similar  school  journal.  The 
movement  arising  in  the  high  schools  was  in  part  antagonistic 
to  the  movement  coming  from  the  colleges.  The  college 
authorities,  who  were  rarely  well  informed  regarding  secondary 
education,  as  distinguished  from  preparatory  education,  were 
inclined  to  insist  on  a  somewhat  rigid  course  of  study,  leading 
directly  up  to  the  work  which  they  themselves  desired  to  give 
in  the  early  college  years.  The  high  school  authorities,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  scarcely  concerned  about  what  was  taught  in 
college,  simply  desiring  to  give  to  their  tens  of  thousands  of 
pupils  the  wisest,  most  thorough  course  possible  in  English 
literature  and  English  composition.  As  a  result  each  party 
misunderstood  the  other,  and  it  cannot  be  said,  indeed,  that 
even  now  the  two  points  of  view  are  wholly  compatible. 

The  results  of  this  widespread  movement  for  the  more  careful 
and  systematic  study  of  English  in  secondary  schools  are  ex- 
ceedingly interesting.  In  the  first  place,  separate  Beginning's  of 
colleges,  seeing  that  their  individual  efforts  to  "  raise  Organization. 
the  standard  "  of  preparatory  English  were  not  having  a  suffi- 
ciently rapid  effect,  began  to  combine  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  same  entrance  requirements.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
New  England  Commission  of  Colleges,  founded  in  1886,  in  re- 
sponse to  an  appeal  from  the  New  England  Association  of  Col- 
leges and  Preparatory  Schools,  was  to  stimulate  and  organize 
preparatory  instruction  in  English  by  agreeing  on  a  uniform  list 
of  books  ^  from  which  should  be  chosen  the  subjects  given  out 
for  English  essays  at  the  entrance  examinations  in  all  the  New 


Beginning  with  1SS9.     See  the  Reports  of  the  Commission. 


50       THE   STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

England  colleges.  The  books  were  often  badly  selected,  and 
the  entrance  requirements  at  the  colleges  concerned  were  often 
widely  different  in  spirit  or  in  letter,  but  this  arrangement  was  a 
first  step,  toward  the  formal  organization  of  preparatory  English, 
and,  with  all  its  vices,  had  the  great  virtue  of  serving  as  a  defi- 
nite requirement,  on  which  all  colleges  belonging  to  the  Com- 
mission were  bound  in  general  to  agree,  and  on  which  other 
colleges  throughout  the  country  might  easily  agree  for  the  sake 
of  convenience.  A  second  step  was  taken  in  1S93,  when,  at 
the  instance  of  the  Association  of  the  Colleges  and  Preparatory 
Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland,  a  committee  was 
appointed,  consisting  partly  of  college  instructors  and  partly  of 
preparatory  school  instructors,  to  arrange  uniform  entrance  re- 
quirements in  English  for  colleges  in  the  territory  indicated. 
The  committee  wisely  foresaw  that  it  could  act  only  as  a  dis- 
turbing element  if  it  did  not  proceed  in  harmony  with  the  New 
England  Commission  of  Colleges,  the  New  England  Association 
of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools,  and  all  existing  organiza- 
tions of  the  latter  sort.  The  result  was  that  the  chief  colleges 
and  schools  throughout  the  country  voluntarily  agreed,  through 
their  representatives  in  these  organizations,  on  a  new  system  of 
entrance  requirements,  involving,  first,  the  older  or  Harvard 
scheme,  which  demanded  only  skill  in  composition  and  rhetor- 
ical accuracy ;  second,  the  Yale  scheme,  which  threw  the  em- 
phasis on  a  knowledge  of  elementary  facts  concerning  English 
literature  ;  and,  third,  a  list  of  English  classics  which  should 
serve  as  a  basis  for  examination  on  each  of  the  parts  mentioned.^ 
Although  open  to  grave  objections,  this  arrangement  was  ob- 
viously a  great  step  in  advance.  The  colleges,  with  only  a  i^w 
exceptions,  had  at  last,  with  the  help  of  the  preparatory  schools, 
agreed  on  a  uniform  entrance  requirement. 

A  second  group  of  results  was  that  obtained  wholly  or  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  the  schools  themselves.     The  National 


1  A  Swnmary  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Meetings   of  the   Conference  on 
Uniform  Entrance  Requirements  in  English,  1894-1899. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      5 1 

Educational  Association  had  long  shown  a  marked  interest  in 
the  teaching  of  English,  and  the  publication,  in  1894,  of  the 
Report  of  the  National  Committee  of  Ten  on  Second-  progress  in 
ary  Schools  gave  a  new  basis  to  instruction  in  Eng-  Organization. 
lish.  The  committee  dealing  with  English  consisted  partly  of 
secondary  school  teachers,  both  from  high  schools  and  prepara- 
tory schools,  and  partly  of  college  professors  of  English,  and 
their  task  was  to  construct  a  curriculum  in  English  that  should 
serve  the  interests  of  general  education,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
many,  and  not  merely  that  of  the  few  who  go  to  colleges.  Their 
admirable  report  was  the  first  attempt,  in  England  or  America, 
to  systematize  secondary  instruction  in  English.  The  principal 
points  in  which  it  was  noteworthy  are  as  follows  :  (i)  It  made 
of  English  instruction  in  the  secondary  schools  a  complete 
organism.  Through  it  the  schools  came  to  realize  for  the  first 
time  that  instruction  in  English  means,  not  a  group  of  discon- 
nected studies  in  grammar,  rhetoric,  English  literature,  and  elo- 
cution, but  one  constant  current,  as  it  were,  of  work,  running 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  instruction.  (2)  The  committee 
was  convinced  that  secondary  education  in  English  can  be  prop- 
erly systematized  only  when  it  is  considered  in  direct  con- 
nection with  elementary  instruction  in  the  same  subject.  It 
proceeded,  therefore,  to  lay  down  certain  principles  and  plans 
for  the  teaching  of  English  from  the  earliest  grades  of  the  ele- 
mentary schools  through  the  highest  classes  in  the  high  schools. 
Other  parts  of  the  same  inquiry  have  been  taken  up  in  greater 
detail  by  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  on  Elementary  Education 
(1895),  whose  duty  it  was  to  recommend  a  systematic  course  in 
English  for  the  elementary  schools,  and  by  the  Committee  on 
College  Entrance  Requirements  (1S99),  whose  aim  was  to 
formulate  a  course  of  study  leading  towards  the  college  require- 
ments. These  three  reports  have  had  two  marked  results: 
(i)  they  have  aroused  great  interest  throughout  the  country  in 
the  subject  of  a  graded  course  of  English  instruction,  and  (2) 
they  have  helped  to  formulate  definite  principles  on  which  in- 
struction in  English  may  be  based.     The  ideals  pursued  are  still 


52       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

various,  but  the  confusion  is  less  great  than  before,  and  it  is 
plain  that  light  is  breaking  through  the  darkness.  It  will  not 
be  many  years  before  the  whole  subject  can  be  taken  up  from  a. 
broader  and  more  philosophic  point  of  view,  the  different  theo- 
ries harmonized,  the  different  aims  unified,  and  an  ideal  course 
of  study,  thoroughly  adapted  to  American  needs,  built  up 
throughout  the  country. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  United  States  as  much  time  is  given 
to  instruction  in  the  mother-tongue  as  in  the  other  countries,^ 

and  that,  roughly  speaking,  the  field  covered  is  as 
9f  instniction  great.     It  may,  on  the  whole,  be  believed  that  in  the 

best  American  schools  the  field  is  covered  also  as 
thoroughly.  In  short,  the  great  difference  between  the  situa- 
tion in  America  and  that  in  other  countries  lies  not  in  the  fact 
that  the  best  schools  in  America  do  not  do  such  good  work  in 
the  mother-tongue  as  that  done  in  other  countries,  but  that  in 
America  there  is  in  this,  as  in  other  subjects,  a  wide  difference 
between  the  instruction  given  in  the  best  schools  and  that  given 
in  other  schools. 

IV.     The  General  Theory  of  Instruction  in  the 
Mother- Tongue 

It  will  be  clear  that  the  time  has  now  come  for  a  careful 
study,  in  America  and  England,  of  all  that  pertains  to  element- 
The  Purpose  ^^Y  ^^^  secondary  instruction  in  English.  In  the 
of  this  Book.  ^j.gj.  place,  the  subject  is  a  comparatively  new  one 
and  needs  further  investigation.  Sound  systems  for  the  teach- 
ing of  any  mother-tongue  have  only  recently  been  developed, 
and  England  has  in  this  respect  lagged  far  behind  its  European 
sisters.  It  is  necessary  for  our  American  schools  to  look  care- 
fully to  their  own  needs,  and  to  develop  their  own  system,  turn- 
ing for  help  to  the  models  furnished  by  French  and  German 
rather  than  by  English  schools.     In  the  second  place,  it  is  plain 


1  See  J.  E.  Russell,  German  Higher  Schools,  Chapter  XII.,  and  F.  E. 
Bolton,  Secondary  School  System  of  Germany,  264. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE       53 

that  the  present  status  of  instruction  in  English  is  only  partly 
satisfactory.  The  influences  which  have  been  indicated  above 
have,  to  some  extent,  brought  about  a  superficial  organization  of 
the  whole  field,  but  the  condition  is  at  best  one  of  confusion 
and  uncertainty.  In  the^jJiird  place,  the  subject  is  worthy  of 
the  most  careful  study  on  account  of  its  value  to  the  public  and 
to  the  individual.  To  the  general  public  it  is  important  because 
the  curricula  of  our  public  schools  are  now,  to  a  large  extent, 
either  badly  arranged  or  insufficient,  so  far  as  English  is  con- 
cerned. To  the  individual  it  is  important  because  he  may  be 
enabled,  by  understanding  the  general  theory  of  education  in  the 
mother-tongue,  to  counteract  the  influences  which  have  been 
exerted  upon  him  by  an  ill-balanced,  incomplete,  or  falsely 
based  system.  The  aim  of  this  bock  is  the  statement  and  dis- 
cussion of  the  whole  group  of  theories,  general  and  particular, 
regarding  the  teaching  of  English  in  the  elementary  and  second- 
ary schools.  The  object  of  the  authors  has  been  in  every  case 
to  state  the  principal  existing  theories  and  to  discuss  them,  with 
a  view  to  determining  which,  in  whole  or  in  part,  are  more 
worthy  of  acceptance.  It  is  their  earnest  desire,  however,  that 
their  own  conclusion  in  these  matters  be  not  accepted,  if  at  all, 
without  careful  thought. 

We  have  seen  the  rise  of  the  study  of  the  vernacular  in  the 
chief  European  nations  ;  we  have  also  seen  the  various  steps  by 
which  the  study  of  English  has  risen  in  America  to  a  command- 
ing importance.  It  is  now  necessary  to  supplement  this  histori- 
cal study  with  a  brief  consideration  of  the  general  reasons  why  a 
study  of  the  vernacular  is  of  real  importance  to  the  community, 
and  with  an  examination  of  the  general  theory  of  such  study. 

It  is  obviously  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation  that  all  the  com- 
munities which  form  it  should  realize  clearly  their  mutual  rela- 
tions.    It  is  equally  obvious  that  the  attainment  of  importance 
this  national  consciousness  must  be,  to  a  very  great  ^  ^^ 
degree,  dependent  upon  the  thorough  and  general  to  a  nation. 
understanding  of  a  common   tongue.     Nations  iii  which   the 
component  communities  speak  and  read  no  common  tongue  are 


54       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

nations  only  in  name,  as  may  be  seen  in  China,  where  whole 
provinces  use  languages  largely  unintelligible  to  the  inhabitants 
of  other  provinces,  and  where  the  literary  language  of  all  is  a 
tongue  which  requires  many  years  for  its  mastery.  To  speak 
a  dialect  of  Chinese  is  the  birthright  of  every  Chinese  child  ;  but 
to  read  and  write  the  literary  language  takes  in  itself  at  least 
ten  years.  That  is  to  say,  the  Chinese  pupil  at  the  end  of  ten 
years  is  not,  in  point  of  linguistic  progress,  beyond  the  American 
child  who  has  just  learned  to  read  and  write  the  characters 
of  the  English  language.  The  common  tongue,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  the  basis  of  a  common  literature,  is  indispensable  to 
the  establishment  of  national  ideals  and  of  national  systems  of 
thought. 

To  the  individual  the  cultivation  of  the  vernacular  is  also  of 
great  importance.  It  is,  in  the  first  place,  his  instrument 
Importance  ^"  ^''  '^'^  communication  with  others  ;  it  is,  in  the 
ind?^"d  ai  second  place,  the  instrument  by  which  his  aesthetic 
needs  are  chiefly  served  ;  it  is,  in  the  third  place, 
the  means  by  which  he  arrives  at  intellectual  consciousness. 
Modern  psychologists  teach  us  that  a  considerable  part  of  our 
existence  is  filled  with  cerebral  action  that  is  not  translated  into 
words.  During  sleep,  and  indeed  in  many  of  our  waking 
moments,  the  stream  of  consciousness  flows  on  without  verbal 
expression.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  when  the  mind 
is  thoroughly  awake,  when  questions  are  to  be  decided  and 
thought  must  be  definite,  the  skilful  use  of  language,  even  in 
the  mind's  relations  with  itself,  is  almost  an  absolute  necessity. 
The  intellectual  life  depends  to  a  considerable  degree  upon  the 
mastery  of  words,  without  which  any  connected  chain  of 
reasoning  is  almost  wholly  impossible.  To  the  individual, 
therefore,  the  ability  to  utilize  language  as  an  instrument  for 
his  conscious  rule  over  himself  is  his  distinguishing  mark 
as  a  man,  the  token  that  marks  him  off  from  the  child  or 
the  savage. 

Granting  the  need  of  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  native  tongue 
on  the  part  of  an  educated  man  or  woman,  we  now  pass  to  the 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      55 

several  parts  of  -which  such  mastery  consists.     It  is  clear  that 
the  mastery  of  one's  mother-tongue  depends  upon  three  cardinal 
points:   (i)  the  abiUty  of  the  individual  to  under-  in  what  the 
stand  the   thoughts  of  others,  whether  spoken  or  L^gu^e* 
written  :   (2)  his  ability  to  express  his  own  thoughts  ^°°^^^^- 
through  spoken  or  written  words  ;  (3)  his  ability  to  gain  sesthetic 
pleasure  through  his  native  literature.     These  general  points  we 
may  now  proceed  to  analyze. 

The  individual  must  obviously  be  able  to  articulate  clearly  all 
English  sounds  (independently  of  their  meaning)  in  accordance 
with  the  general  national  custom.     In  other  words, 
the  infant  must  learn  to  make  the  sounds  which  are 
agreed  on  by  its  elders  as  conventional  signs  for  the  expression 
of  thought.     Such  training  is  largely  the  work  of  the  mother  and 
of  the  home,  but  it  enters  also  partly  into  school  life,  and  is 
the  necessary  step  on  which  all  later  progress  in  oral  composi- 
tion must  be  based.     Its  broader  aspect  is  too  often  neglected. 
The  child  must  be  able  not  merely  to  utter  sounds  roughly  and 
approximately,  but  to  pronounce  them  accurately  and  by  the 
proper  use  of  the  vocal  mechanism.     The  elementary  teacher 
has  few  higher  duties  than  that  of  inculcating,  by  example  and 
precept,  a  clear  pronunciation  of  English  vowels  and  consonants. 
It  is  by  such  training  that  unpleasant  dialectic  pecuharities  — 
e.  g.,  the  nasal  twang  of  the  New  Englander  —  can  be  destroyed.'^ 


1  While,  however,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  tone  down  harsh 
and  obtrusive  dialectal  peculiarities  in  the  speech  of  his  pupils,  it  is  not 
his  duty  wholly  to  eliminate  such  peculiarities.  He  may  safely  lessen  the 
difference  between  one  pupil's  speech  and  another's,  but  he  should  be- 
ware of  attempting  to  reduce  the  speech  of  all  to  a  dead  level  of  uni- 
formity. To  do  so  would  be  to  arrest  the  normal  processes  of  language 
growth.  The  speech  of  no  country  is  strictly  homogeneous.  Differences 
in  climate,  in  language-inheritance,  in  character,  in  social  conditions,  in 
modes  of  thought  and  feeling,  prevail  in  different  geographical  sections, 
and  these  differences  will  find  expression  in  corresponding  differences 
of  pronunciation,  of  intonation,  even  of  vocabulary  and  sentence-structure. 
The  Southern  child,  by  the  time  he  has  reached  the  secondary  school, 
has  acquired  beyond  recall  the  .Southern  o  for  u  (before  r),  the  Southern 
d  for  th,  the  Southern  !i'  for  luh,  and  the  other  peculiarities  of  speech 


56       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

A  faulty  pronunciation  may  of  course  be  due,  in  large  measure, 
to  defective  organs  of  speech,  or  to  defective  nervous  control  of 


which  the  Northerner  is  accustomed  to  attribute  (mistakenly)  to  the 
influence  of  the  negro  dialect.  The  middle-Westerner  at  the  same  age 
has  acquired  the  glottal  catch  before  initial  vowels  and  the  short  a  in 
past  z.\\A  glass  ;  the  Hoosier  has  acquired  the  aw-sound  in  dog  zxi^  fog; 
the  New  Englander  has  acquired  the  flattened  a  in  fathe?-,  the  final  r  in 
iJea-r  and  Isaiah-r,  and  the  shortened  o  in  hot.  Even  if  at  the  age  of 
eight  or  ten  the  pupil  be  transplanted  to  another  part  of  the  country,  as 
from  Alabama  to  New  York,  he  will  all  his  life  long  exhibit  in  his  speech 
—  at  least  in  moments  of  excitement  and  spontaneous  utterance  —  some 
traces  of  this  early  acquired  pronunciation. 

The  retention  of  some  part  of  his  native  dialect  is  not,  however,  to  be 
regarded  by  the  teacher  as  an  unmixed  evil.  Why  should  it  be .'  The 
spoken  language  is  richer,  more  musical,  more  interesting  for  these 
differences,  which  for  educated  people  diminish  in  no  degree  the  intel- 
ligibility of  the  speech.  The  time  will  come  when  only  the  pedantic  and  the 
bookish  teacher  will  insist  that  every  pupil  in  the  school  shall  pronounce 
glass  z.x\d.  past  and  7vhole  according  to  some  preferred  authority.  Indeed, 
the  growing  liberality  of  editors  of  dictionaries  seems  hkely  soon  to  give 
warrant  for  any  pronunciation  which  prevails  among  educated  people  in 
any  given  section  of  the  United  States. 

To  take  this  attitude  toward  the  teaching  of  pronvmciation  is  not,  how- 
ever, to  throw  the  doors  open  to  arbitrary  or  meaningless  variations  from 
the  common  language.  It  is  simply  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  com- 
mon language,  at  every  stage  of  its  progress,  is  the  result  of  the  incessant 
competition  of  sectional  and  individual  differences  in  speech-habits. 
This  competition  cannot  be  prevented  either  by  legislation  or  by  instruc- 
tion, and  any  serious  and  concerted  attempt  to  prevent  it  by  rigorous 
discipline  in  the  schools  is  certain  to  result  in  bookishness  and  affecta- 
tion. An  insistence  upon  clear  and  accurate  enunciation  is  quite  com- 
patible with  toleration  of  minor  differences  in  the  position  of  the  vocal 
organs  of  pupils  from  different  parts  of  the  country. 

When,  however,  the  peculiarities  of  speech  observable  in  the  pupils 
are  the  result  of  foreign  influences,  as,  for  example,  where  the  pupils 
come  from  homes  in  which  the  parents  speak  only  Polish,  or  Swedish,  or 
Pennsylvania  German,  the  situation  is  radically  different,  and  the  duty 
of  the  teacher  is  different.  Such  influences  are  to  be  regarded  as  abnor- 
mal and  should  be  resisted.  No  doubt  even  these  influences  will  have 
their  effect  in  the  long  run,  and  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be  done  will 
mould  to  some  extent  the  future  pronunciation  of  the  English  language 
in  America.  But  at  present  they  are  extra-national.  They  cannot  be 
recognized  as  legitimate  factors  in  the  shaping  of  the  common  lan- 
guage.    [F.  N.  S.] 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE       S7 

these  organs.^  Such  cases  can  often  be  cured  under  enhghtened 
medical  advice,  and  a  great  many  cases  that  might  seem  at 
first  to  require  medical  treatment  could  be  at  least  greatly  re- 
lieved if  elementary  teachers  were  thoroughly  well  trained  in 
the  use  of  the  voice,  and  had  a  sound  knowledge  of  the 
mechanism  by  which  the  voice  is  produced. 

Correspondingly,  the  individual  must  be  able  to  understand 
the  words  uttered  by  others.  That  is  to  say,  his  ear  must 
reproduce  for  him  the  utterances  of  the  vocal  organs  ^  . 
of  others.  Skill  in  this  respect  is  likewise  almost 
entirely  secured  under  home  influences.  It  may  be  well,  how- 
ever, to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  many  cases  of  stupidity 
among  pupils,  particularly  with  regard  to  their  English  studies, 
are  due  to  peculiarities  of  hearing,  and  that  the  duty  of  the 
elementary  teacher  is  always  to  make  sure  that  the  child  really 
hears  completely  and  accurately.  If  it  does  not,  the  causes 
should  be  investigated  and  the  child  placed,  if  necessary,  under 
medical  treatment.^ 

The  points  spoken  of  above  are  largely  secured  by  the  general 
training  obtained  through  the  ordinary  experiences  of  life.  If 
one  never  went  to  school  at  all,  he  would  by  imitation,  if  pro- 
vided by  nature  with  good  organs  of  hearing  and  of  speech, 
learn  to  give  a  definite  meaning  to  the  sounds  uttered  by  others 
and  to  make  them  for  himself.  The  two  points  which  follow, 
however,  are  different  in  this  respect,  and  are  more  especially 
subjects  of  school  instruction. 

The  individual  must  learn  to  write  a  clear  hand.  The  impor- 
tance of  penmanship,  or  of  the  ability  to  form  the  symbols  re- 
quired by  convention  for  the  expression  of  thought,  -writing  and 
can  scarcely  be  exaggerated.  Such  knowledge  is  '^^^^^^ 
a  very  elementary  step  in  education,  but  it  is  none  the  less  of 
the  utmost  importance,  and  if  the  pupil  be  not  well  grounded  in 
this  respect,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case,  his  further  instruction 


1  S.  H.  Rowe,  The  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  1S99,  Chapter  VI. 

2  Rowe,  Chapter  III. 


58       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

will  be  constantly  impeded.  The  individual  must  also  be  able 
to  recognize  by  sight  the  symbols  by  which  society  has  agreed 
to  express  its  thought ;  in  other  words,  he  must  learn  to  read. 
It  is  the  duty  and  the  pleasure  of  the  modern  teacher  to  see  that 
he  learns  to  read  rapidly,  without,  as  was  the  case  for  many 
centuries,  wasting  a  considerable  degree  of  time  and  effort. 

The  subjects  just  mentioned  are  usually  associated  with  school 
instruction.  They  may,  however,  be  learned  at  home,  and  fre- 
quently are  learned  there.  When  he  understands  these  two 
arts,  the  young  citizen  has  mastered  all  the  essentials  of  educa- 
tion. He  has  in  his  possession  the  two  most  precious  elements 
of  civilization,  which  are  thus  handed  down  from  one  generation 
to  another.  All  the  rest  of  his  English  education  he  can,  if 
necessary,  derive  of  his  own  accord  from  books  or  from  life,  as 
many  great  men  have  been  forced  to  do.  The  training  of  the 
schools  can,  however,  simplify  the  process  greatly  and  add  to  its 
richness  and  thoroughness.  In  the  remaining  subjects  school 
instruction  plays  an  increasingly  important  part. 

The  individual  must  have  the  power  of  effective  speech.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  language  is  primarily  a  matter  of  the 
Effective  voice  and  of  the  ear,  not  of  the  hand  and  of  the  eye. 
Speech.  'pi;^^  living  language  is  the  spoken  language.     The 

written  language  is  merely  a  conventional  form  of  the  spoken  lan- 
guage. The  more  important  aim  of  education  in  the  mother- 
tongue  must,  therefore,  always  be  the  development  of  power  over 
the  spoken  language  rather  than  over  the  written  language.  In 
this  instruction  there  are  two  important  elements,  both  too  fre- 
quently neglected  by  high  schools  and  elementary  schools.  These 
subjects  are  :  elocution  and  practice  in  public  speaking.  By  elo- 
cution we  mean  knowledge  of,  and  practice  in,  the  principles  of 
voice  production.  The  human  voice  is  a  mechanism  for  utter- 
ing sounds,  —  a  mechanism  whose  working  is  dependent  upon 
simple  mechanical  laws.  The  child  can  understand  the  chief  of 
these,  and  all  students  can  be  practised  in  such  attitudes  of  the 
body,  such  habits  of  breathing,  such  uses  of  the  muscles  of  the 
throat,  as  will  enable  them  to  speak  with  effectiveness  and  ease. 


THE  STUDY  OF   THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      59 

The  second  point  is  one  in  whicli  practice  rather  than  theory  is 
involved.  No  child  or  man  has  a  proper  mastery  over  his  native 
language  who  is  unduly  impeded  by  nervous  fear  from  utter- 
ing his  thoughts  in  the  presence  of  others,  whether  they  be  few 
or  many.  The  child  can  be  encouraged  to  speak  frankly  and 
freely  in  the  recitation  room,  at  proper  times,  with  quiet  self- 
possession.  The  older  student  can  be  helped  by  having  prac- 
tice, at  regular  intervals,  in  the  speaking  of  the  compositions  of 
others  or  of  his  own  work,  in  the  presence  of  small  or  large 
groups  of  his  companions.  The  result  of  intelligent  direction 
in  these  respects  will  be  that,  on  leaving  the  high  school, 
every  boy  and  girl  will  have  learned  self-control  under  these 
circumstances,  and  will  thus  be  able  the  more  successfully 
to  meet  the  necessary  demands  of  business,  professional,  or 
social  life. 

The  individual  must  also  have  the  power  of  effective  written 
expression.     Like  the  similar  faculty  just  treated,  this  depends 

to  a  great  extent   upon   the    development   of  the  _^^  ^ 

o  i-  r  Effective 

powers  of  reason.     No  person,  old  or  young,  can  Written 

-  Expression, 
express  himseli  effectively  by  oral  or  written  words 

unless  his  thought  be  worth  expressing.  The  object  of  the 
school  is  partly  to  help  each  individual  to  be  conscious  of  his 
own  important  ideas,  and  partly  so  to  train  him  that  when 
these  ideas  are  already  formed  they  can  be  properly  expressed. 
The  whole  subject  of  effective  written  expression  is  even  more 
largely  composite  than  that  of  oral  expression.  In  vocal  expres- 
sion there  are  mechanical  laws  to  which  the  student's  attention 
can  be  called  and  in  which  he  can  be  trained.  In  written  ex- 
pression there  are  no  mechanical  laws  except  those  involved  in 
penmanship.  Effective  written  expression  is,  therefore,  mainly 
a  matter  of  intellectual  skill  and  knowledge,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  depending  upon  the  two  subjects  stated  below. 

The  individual  must  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  words 
which  make  up  the  national  vocabulary.  He  must  know  their 
use  and  meaning ;  that  is  to  say,  he  must  realize  the  associations 
connected,  in  the  minds  of  people  at  large,  with  the  EngHsh 


60       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

vocabulary.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  task  thoroughly,  in 
order  to  be  the  master  and  not  the  slave  of  words,  he  must 
Knowledge  understand,  to  some  extent,  their  derivation,  and 
NaUonai  '^^"'^^  involves  some  knowledge  of  Old  English  and 

Vocabulary.  Latin  ;  he  must  be  familiar  with  their  use  in  literature  ; 
he  must  realize  the  distinctions  between  different  words  of  much 
the  same  meaning ;  and  he  must,  last  of  all,  realize  the  differ- 
ence existing  in  association  between  dialectic  or  vulgar  expres- 
sions, technically  so  called,  and  expressions  used  in  literature. 
The  process  is  a  long  one,  and  must  continue  while  education 
and  life  last,  but  it  may  be  well  begun  in  the  elementary  schools, 
and  the  necessary  foundations  may  be  laid  in  the  high  school,  so 
that  the  young  man  on  leaving  the  high  school  may  be  independ- 
ent, if  necessary,  of  further  formal  instruction  in  this  regard. 

It  is  also  obvious  that  the  student  should  be  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted, not  only  with  the  vocabulary,  but  with  the  grammar 
Grammar  °^  '^'^  native  language,  /.  <?.,  with  the  laws  that  govern 
and  Rhetoric,  inflection  and  syntax.  It  is  perhaps  not  so  obvious 
that  this  part  of  the  student's  training  should  be  extended  to 
cover,  first,  the  larger  laws  which  govern  the  structure  of  sen- 
tences, paragraphs,  and  whole  compositions,  and  which  consti- 
tute rhetoric,  and,  second,  the  less  easily  defined  but  no  less 
active  principles  which  govern  the  general  growth  of  the  lan- 
guage. Little  positive  instruction  can  be  given  on  this  latter 
point,  for  grammarians  and  philologists  are  only  beginning  to  con- 
sider it.  It  is  becoming  increasingly  clear,  however,  not  only 
that  language  is  in  a  continual  state  of  flux,  —  word  after  word, 
phrase  after  phrase  growing  antiquated  or  dialectic,  and  other 
locutions  taking  their  places,  —  but  that  this  process  of  decay  and 
growth  is  to  a  large  extent  the  result  of  a  national  striving 
towards  an  unconscious  ideal. -^  It  is  for  the  welfare  of  us  all 
that  every  boy  and  girl,  so  far  as  possible,  should  realize  what 
the  characteristics  of  our  common  speech  are,  and  what  its  ten- 


1  See  M.  Breal,  Semantics :   Studies  in  the  Science  of  Meaning,  Holt, 
1900,  p.  7. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TOXGUE      6 1 

dencies  are,  for  it  is  not  by  the  genius,  the  critic,  the  scholar,  or 
the  man  of  letters  alone  that  language  is  formed,  but  by  the 
combined  practice  of  all  who  use  it. 

All  the  preceding  portions  of  the  student's  instruction  may 
be  acquired,  it  should  be  noticed,  independently  of  the  study 
of  literature.  It  is  not  meant,  of  course,  that  they  can  be  best 
secured  without  a  study  of  literature,  but  it  is  only  just  to  say 
that  such  branches  of  linguistic  instruction  depend,  theoretically 
at  least,  upon  the  spoken  language  rather  than  the  written. 
Under  proper  instruction,  it  is  wholly  possible  for  a  student  to 
be  well  grounded  in  drawing  or  painting  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  great  masterpieces  of  his  art.  He  may  even,  to  some 
extent,  teach  himself  the  rudiments  of  the  art,  simply  by  observ- 
ing the  physical  forms  which  he  wishes  to  delineate,  and  com- 
paring his  product  with  the  original.  He  can  certainly  be  taught 
with  success  by  an  instructor  who  uses  no  other  model  than 
nature  itself,  but  who  asks  the  pupil  to  observe  and  then  to  draw, 
and  then  shows  him  how  his  product  differs  from  the  original. 
The  same  process  may  be  carried  on  with  those  portions  of  lin- 
guistic instruction  which  we  know  as  reading,  writing,  grammar, 
and  rhetoric.  The  following  parts  of  the  student's  instruction,  on 
the  contrary,  are  essentially  concerned  with  the  knowledge  and 
appreciation  of  the  great  masterpieces  of  his  own  literature. 

The  first  of  these  new  branches  of  instruction  is  the  aesthetic 
appreciation  of  good  literature.     Such  appreciation  is  not  al- 
ways instinctive  on  the  part  of  the  young,  —  indeed, 
it  may  be  said  to  be  very  rarely  instinctive.     The   of  Good 
average  boy  or  girl,  in  the  midst  of  modern  civili- 
zation, finds  so  much  outside  of  literature  to  occupy  his  mind, 
and  the  influence  on  him  of  the  practical  life  surrounding  him, 
of  business,  of  science,  of  the  whole  world  of  fact,  is  so  great  as 
often  to  deaden  in  him  even  such  instinctive  appreciation  as 
he  may  have  for  the  apparently  unreal  and  fantastic  world  of 
literature.     The  appreciation  of  literature  is,  of  course,  not  in- 
dispensable to  a  useful  and  noble  life,  as  has  been  shown  by 
many  instances.     It  invariably  brings,  however,  an  added  joy  to 


62       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

life,  and  is  therefore,  though  not  an  indispensable  part  of  edu- 
cation, at  least  an  important  one. 

Besides  learning  to  appreciate  good  literature,  it  is  important 
that  the  young  student  should  be  brought  into  familiar  contact 

with  the  great  masterpieces  of  his  native  literature- 
Familiarity      .  .     ,.      .  ,  ,  ,  ,      ,  . 
with  Master-    Appreciation  itself  might  perhaps  be  taught  him 
Dicccs 

through  the  current  literature  of  his  day,   if  not 

through  the  great  literature  of  his  day,  rather  than  through  the 
great  literature  of  preceding  epochs,  just  as  an  appreciation  of 
painting,  sculpture,  or  architecture  might  be  given  him  through 
the  contemporary  products  of  those  arts  rather  than  through  the 
greatest  products  of  preceding  ages.  His  appreciation  of  lit- 
erature, however,  will  to  a  large  extent  be  solidly  based  only 
in  proportion  as  it  is  founded  on  the  masterpieces  of  several 
periods  of  the  native  literature. 

Last,  it  is  important  that  the  student  should  have  a  clear 
realization  of  the  elements  of  his  native  literature  that  are  most 

characteristically  national  or  racial,  in  order  that  his 
Influence  of       .     ,.   ■  i     ,  -j     /     r         j      .  i 

national  Ideals  individual  ideals  of  conduct  may  become  consonant 

with  the  more  permanent  and  noble  aims  of  hu- 
manity, and  of  the  special  division  of  humanity  to  which  he 
belongs  by  inheritance  or  by  education- 
Such  is  the  general  theory  of  instruction  in  a  native  language. 
It  has  been  so  phrased  as  to  apply  to  any  modern  language, 
and  may  in  general  be  said  to  represent  the  body  of  instruction 
in  the  mother-tongue  given  by  all  nations  that  are  paying  atten- 
tion to  such  matters.  Certain  special  points,  however,  must  be 
mentioned  in  which  the  English  language,  or  the  English 
language  as  spoken  in  America,  is  peculiar,  and  which  there- 
fore tend  to  differentiate  British  or  American  instruction  in 
English  from  that  given  by  other  important  nations  in  their 
respective  languages. 

(i)  The  orthography  of  English,  like  that  of  French,  is  com- 
plicated. It  is  not  so  intricate  a  system  as  that  employed  by 
the  Chinese,  but  it  is  much  more  intricate  than  that  of  German, 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE      6^ 

Italian,  or  Spanish.  That  is  to  say,  the  child  must  spend  a 
longer  time  in  learning  tlie  irregular  and  anomalous  ways  of 
spelling  English  words  than  he  would  in  learning  the  EngUsh 
more  regular  ways  of  spelling  German  or  Italian  Orthography, 
words.  In  this  respect,  relief  may,  after  many  years,  be  se- 
cured, if  the  influence  of  the  government  and  of  all  important 
educational  bodies  be  directed  toward  the  simplifying  and  reg- 
ularizing of  present  conventions  as  to  spelling.^  Elementary 
teachers  may  also  save  the  loss  of  valuable  time  on  the  part 
of  the  student  by  devising  clever  means  for  presenting  the 
subject  of  spelling  in  such  a  way  that  its  difficulties  will  be 
minimized. 

(2)  The  point  mentioned  above  is  the  only  point  in  which 
the  English  language  is  more  difficult   than  other  important 

modern  languages.      It  is  singularly  free  from  in- 

n       .        ,  •     1    •  ,     •  1  English  not 

nectional  or  syntactical  irregularity,   and  presents  a  Difficult 

therefore  few  difficulties  for  the  native.  A  child 
of  ten  may  speak  it  with  perfect  correctness,  so  far  as  all  points 
of  inflection  or  syntax  go.  There  are  no  puzzling  questions  of 
agreement,  as  in  French,  which  even  the  well-educated  native 
may  strive  in  vain  to  make  instinctive,  and  no  intricate  gram- 
matical constructions  as  in  German. 

It  should  also  be  noticed  that,  in  American  schools,  instruction 
in  English  is  not  obliged  to  fight  against  the  force  of  local  dia- 
lects. There  are  in  various  parts  of  the  United  pewDiaiectic 
States  certain  local  peculiarities  in  pronunciation,  ^differences, 
in  vocabulary,  and  occasionally  in  syntax  ;  but  taken  altogether 
they  amount  to  little,  and  the  difficulties  they  occasion  are  not 
for  a  moment  comparable  to  the  difficulties  which  the  British 
rural  school  may  encounter  in  teaching  English  to  pupils  whose 
native  speech  is  a  peculiar  and  dialectic  form  of  English.  These 
difficulties  are  even  greater  in  France,  Germany,  and  Italy, 
where   a   considerable   part   of  the   instruction   in   the   native 


1  See  Brander  Matthews,  Parts  of  Speech,  Sciibner's,  1901^  Chapters 
XII.  and  XIII. 


64       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

tongue  must,  in  isolated  districts,  be  given  to  the  uprooting 
of  the  native  dialect  and  the  implanting  of  the  standard  or 
national  usage. 

There  is  one  other  modification  in  the  system  of  instruction 
in  the  native  tongue  which  must  be  taken  into  account  in  the 
Children  of  United  States.  Immigration  has  been  so  rapid  and 
immigrants.  ^^  i^j^g  continued  that  the  United  States  must  in 
its  public  elementary  schools  educate  large  numbers  of  children 
to  whom  English  is  a  foreign  or  a  newly  acquired  language. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  some  country  districts,  where 
local  conditions  have  occasioned  the  influx  of  a  large  body 
of  foreign  immigrants,  and  in  some  large  city  schools,  where 
the  children  are  often  not  of  one  but  of  several  races  and 
nations. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  schools  are  not  the  only  means 
by  which  the  young  are  trained  in  the  understanding  of  their 
native  language  and  literature.  We  must  take  into  account 
several  other  factors,  all  of  which  tend  to  increase  or  to  diminish 
the  effectiveness  of  work  done  by  the  schools,  and  which  there- 
fore the  teacher  must  keep  carefully  in  mind,  availing  himself  of 
the  advantages  they  offer  as  the  skilful  seaman  avails  himself  of 
favourable  tides  or  currents. 

(i)  Of  these  the  influence  extended  by  the  family  is  the 
most  important.  A  child  born  of  educated  and  refined  parents, 
Influence  of  ^^^°  ^^^  h^^n  accustomed  to  hearing  the  language 
theFamUy.  spoken  correctly  and  with  good  taste,  and  who 
has  been  familiar  from  infancy  with  good  literature,  must 
of  necessity  need  instruction  in  the  native  language  far  less 
than  a  child  from  a  family  of  a  wholly  different  kind.  Indeed, 
it  might  be  said  that  a  child  from  an  educated  family  would 
scarcely  need  elementary  instruction  in  such  matters  at  all, 
were  it  not  that,  particularly  in  the  United  States,  and  at  the 
present  time,  even  educated  fathers  and  mothers  often  pay 
little  or  no  attention  to  the  language  or  reading  of  their 
children. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  aMOTHER-TOXGUE      65 

(2)  The  influence  of  the  community  is  also  important.  As 
we  have  seen,  the  old-fashioned  New  England  common  school 
was  scarcely,  in  itself,  a  medium  of  good  instruction, 

but  the  community  in  which  it  existed  was  so  thor-    of  the     _ 

•'  Commumty. 

oughly  alive,  and  so  thoroughly  devoted  to  intellect- 
ual matters,  that  any  intelligent  person  growing  up  in  the  midst 
of  it  could  scarcely  avoid  having  his  ambition  aroused  and  his 
linguistic  powers  trained  and  developed. 

(3)  Religious  exercises,  of  whatever  sect,  when  carried  on  in 
the  native  language,  have  always  been  a  powerful  factor  in  lin- 
guistic instruction.  The  Church  of  England,  and  influence  of 
other  churches  making  use  of  old  forms  of  service,  the Churcli. 
may  influence  youth  deeply  by  the  reiteration  of  charming  groups 
of  words,  which  slowly  impress  themselves  upon  the  memory. 
Such  other  sects  as  make  use  only  to  a  slight  degree  of  set  forms 
of  worship  are  perhaps  even  more  valuable  in  such  instruction, 
when  the  attention  of  the  young  is  trained  by  listening  to  elo- 
quent or  logical  speakers.  Indeed,  far  more  was  done  for  the 
knowledge  of  the  native  tongue  in  Scotland  and  in  New  England 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  by  effective  preach- 
ing than  by  effective  teaching. 

(4)  The  influence  of  the  press  is  sometimes  scarcely  less 
effective,  and,  up  to  recent  times,  it  has  largely  been  exerted 
for  good.  The  more  widely  circulated  papers  of  the  country, 
until  within  a  few  years,  have  exhibited  a  high  degree  ijifiuence  of 
of  dignity  and  thoughtfulness  in  all  matters  of  ex-  the  Press, 
pression.  Of  late,  however,  various  circumstances  have  led  to  a 
total  change  of  manner  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  great  news- 
papers, and  at  the  present  day  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
influence  of  the  press  is  in  this  respect  often  a  bad  one.  The 
other  widely  distributed  forms  of  the  periodical  press,  such  as 
the  monthly  magazines,  have  a  better  influence,  though  it  is  to 
be  doubted  whether  we  are  wise  in  allowing  secondary  school 
students  to  spend  much  time  in  the  perusal  of  current  litera- 
ture, in  which  somewhat  trivial  fiction  is  predominant. 

(5)  The  influence  of  the  library  must  not  be  omitted.     Dur- 


66       THE  STUDY  OF  THE  MOTHER-TONGUE 

ing  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  one  of  the  most  notable 
features  of  education  in  the  United  States  has  been  the  growth 
throughout   the    country   of  local   libraries,   which 
have  been  widely  used  by  the  citizens  at  large,  and   the  Public" 
particularly  by  the  young.     In  this  respect  we  differ  ^*•'^^^• 
to  a  marked  degree  from  other  nations,  and  the  difference  must 
be  counted  in  our  favour. 


CHAPTER    II 

ENGLISH   IN    ELEMENTARY    EDUCATION 

GENERAL   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

For  the  historical  views,  see 
Karl  Kehr.      Geschichte    des    Lese-Unterrichts    in    der    Volksschule. 

Gotha.     18S9. 
Eechner.     Geschichte  des  Volksschul-Lesebuches.     Gotha.     1889. 
Paul  Leicester  Ford.     The  New  England  Primer.     New  York.     1897. 
R.   R.  Reeder.     The   Historical  Development  of   the   School    Reader. 

New  York.     1900. 
Matthew  Arnold.     Reports  on  Elementary  Schools.     London  and  New 

York.     18S9. 
Reports  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

For  the  discussion  of  the  general  subject  of  language  teaching,  see 
G.  Stanley  Hall.     How  to  Teach    Reading.     Boston   and   New   York. 

1SS6. 
S.  S.  Laurie.     Language  and  Linguistic  Method.     Edinburgh.     1893. 
J.  M.  Rice.     The  Public  School    System  of  the  United  States.     New 

York.     1S93. 
C.  Lloyd  Morgan.     Psychology  for  Teachers.     London.     1S94. 
W.  T.  Harris,  in  Report  of   the    Committee  of  Fifteen.     New  York. 

1895. 
B.  A.  Hinsdale.     Teaching  the  Language- Arts.     New  York.     1S96. 
Karl  Kehr.     Pra.xis  in  der  Volksschule.     Gotha.     1897. 
New  York  Teachers'  Monographs.     Vol.  I.  No.  3,  Vol.  III.  No.  3,  and 

Vol.  IV.  No.  3. 
Sarah  Louise  Arnold.     Reading,  How  to  Teach  It.     Boston.     1S99. 
Percival  Chubb.     The  Teacliing  of  English.     New  York.     1902. 
Files  of  The  Academy,   The  Educational  Review,  The   School 

Review,  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  The  Forum,  and  other  journals, 

especially  since  1892. 

For  special  discussion  of  the  teaching  of  literature,  see 
John  Morley.     On  the  Study  of  Literature.     London.     1887. 
J.  "W.  Hales.     Introduction  to  Longer  English  Poems.     London.     1889. 
Matthew  Arnold.     Literature  and  Science,  in  Discourses  in  America. 

New  York.     1S89. 


68       ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

Hudson's  Introductions  to  Hamlet,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  and  As 
You  Like  it.     Ginn  &  Co. 

H.  C.  Bowen.     EngUsh  Literature  Teaching  in  Schools.     London.     1891. 

Hiram  Corson.     Aims  of  Literary  Study.     New  York.     1895. 

Edward  Dowden.  On  the  Study  of  Literature,  in  New  Studies  in  Litera- 
ture.    London.     1S95. 

Thomas  R.  Price.  Language  and  Literature.  Educational  Review. 
Vol.  XL     January,  1896. 

Arlo  Bates.     Talks  on  the  Study  of  Literature.     Boston.     1897. 

C.  A.  McMurry.  Special  Method  in  Literature  and  History.  Bloom- 
ington  (111.).     1900. 

For  the  treatment  of  grammar,  see 
Laurie,  Hinsdale,  and  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  cited  above. 
Goold  Brown's  Grammar  of  Grammars.     Second  edition.     London  and 

New  York.     1857. 
W.  D.  Whitney.     Essentials  of  English  Grammar.     Boston   and  New 

York.     1884. 
G.  B.  Carpenter.     Principles  of  English  Grammar.     New  York.     1898. 
Earle.     English  Grammar.     London  and  New  York.     1898. 
Mark  H.  Liddell.     English  Historical  Grammar.     Atlantic  Monthly. 

Vol.  LXXXII.     July,  189S. 
H.  G.  Buehler.     A  Modern  English  Grammar.     New  York.     1900. 
Henry   Sweet.     A    New    English   Grammar.     Clarendon    Press.      1898 

and  190D. 
F.  A.  Barbour.     The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar.      Boston  and  New 

York.     1901. 
G.J.  Smith  (Editor).    Longmans' English  Grammar.    New  York.    1902. 

I.   General  Conditions 

The  necessity  of  teaching  the  vernacular  in  the  elementary 
schools  is  universally  accepted.     But  in  respect  of  the  relative 


Present 


importance  assigned  to  it,  the  material  through  which 
IngUsh^  it  should  be  presented,  and  the  aim  and  methods 
Teaching:.  determining  the  instruction,  it  has  had,  like  other 
well-established  subjects,  to  justify  its  place.  During  the  last 
century  all  phases  of  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue  have  been 
seriously  discussed.  The  result  is  a  considerable,  and  probably 
a  permanent,  revolution  in  the  content  and  methods  of  study. 
A  cursory  view  of  present  conditions  and  an  estimate  of  the  place 
of  English  in  the  elementary  school  as  determined  by  modern 
conditions  will  now  be  attempted. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      69 

In  those  schools  which  best  exemplify  the  recent  develop- 
ment of  elementary  education,  no  feature  is  more  interesting  or 

more  significant  than  the  increase  in  the  number 

r     1  •  1  -1  «  •     ,  ,  Fulness  of 

of  thmgs  m   the  curriculum.     A  typical   modern  the  Modern 

school  contains  many  subjects  unthought  of  in  the 
instruction  given  a  few  decades  ago.     At  that  time  the  ability 
to  read  the  school  readers,  —  about  six  in  number  for  the  entire 
course  ;  a  very  rudimentary  outline  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  dealing  with  external,  unrelated,    and    semi-traditional 
facts  ;  and  the  ability  to  do  "  sums  "  in  arithmetic,  partly  as  a 
means   of  mental  discipline  and  partly  as  an  equipment  for 
practical  business  needs,  made  up  the  whole  of  the  elementary 
course.     If  the  pupil  had  proclivities  towards    hand-work,  he 
whittled  his  desk  or  made  gimcracks  as  a  distraction  from  his 
school  tasks ;  if  he  liked  to  draw,  he  caricatured  his  teacher 
and  ran  the  risk  of  the  ferule ;   if  he  had  interests  in  natural 
history,  these  interests  came  into  the  school-room  in  the  shape 
of  animals  illegally  introduced.     What  are  now  recognized  as 
interests  and  capacities  to  be  developed,  were  then  likely  to  be 
regarded  as  outcroppings  of  original  sin.     We  have  changed  all 
that.     \Nq.  want   the  boy  to  read   a  considerable   amount  of  ^ 
good  literature,  and  to  appreciate  it.     We  want  him  to  write 
with  a  fair  degree  of  ease  and  accuracy,  and  to  enjoy  writing. 
We  want  him  to  know  the  history  of  his  country,  its  constitu- 
tional growth,  something  of  the  historical  causes  at  work  in  the 
past  and  in  the  present,  and  something  of  the  types  of  social 
ideas  and  civilization  that  have  preceded  our  own.     We  want 
him  to  do  a  little  drawing,  painting,  and  modelling,  and  to  gain 
some  real  appreciation  of  art.     We  want  him  to  establish  a 
good  co-ordination   between  hand  and  brain,  and  so  we  give 
him  the  tools  of  the  artist  and  the  artisan,  and  require  him  to 
handle  them   better  than    his  fathers.     We  want    him   to  get 
mathematical  concepts,  and  so  to  his  arithmetic  we  add  alge- 
bra and  geometry.     We  want  him   to  know  something  of  the 
laws    of  animate    and   inanimate   nature,    and    we    give    him 
physics   and  biology.      We  want   him,  sometimes,  to  lay  the 


70      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

foundations  of  a  cosmopolitan  culture,  and  we  give  him  French 
or  German.  We  want  him  to  have  something  of  the  physical 
perfection  of  the  Greek  youth,  and  we  give  him  gymnastics  and 
field-sports.  Most  of  these  things  we  ask  of  him  before  he  is 
fifteen.^ 

The  remarkable  thing  is  to  see  how  much  of  all  this  we  are 
getting  without  injury  and  with  much  of  benefit  and  happiness 
to  the  pupil.  There  are,  of  course,  many  lamentable  failures,  — 
failures  chargeable  to  dulness  of  the  pupils  ;  to  inexpertness, 
ignorance,  or  lack  of  personal  power  in  the  teacher ;  to  bad 
conditions  in  home  and  school,  for  which  the  community  at 
large  is  responsible  ;  to  programs  over-crowded,  ill-co-ordinated 
or  ill-adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  school.  Failures  due  to  any 
or  to  all  of  these  causes  do  undoubtedly  still  occur.  So  long 
as  human  wisdom  and  skill  remain  imperfect,  so  long  as  failure 
and  success  are  relative  terms  and  ideal  results  are  understood 
to  mean  results  not  usually  attained,  so  long  will  failure  some- 
times attend  the  best  efforts.  But  none  the  less,  though  com- 
parisons between  past  and  present  are  rendered  difficult  and 
uncertain  by  incomplete  data,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that  the  old 
studies  are  pursued  as  well  or  better  than  before,  and  these  new 
things  added  thereunto.  Many  more  things  are  learned  in  the 
modern  school.  They  are  learned  with  much  less  of  labour  and 
pain  and  tears.  The  dull  boy  and  the  idle  probably  leave  the 
grammar  school  now  with  a  better  training  than  did  the  higher 
type  of  boy  a  generation  ago  ;  and  the  capable  boy  who  works 
under  a  good  teacher  is  incomparably  better  taught  than  were 
his  parents.  And  we  have  probably  not  yet  found  the  limit  of 
children's  capacity  to  absorb  and  to  do. 

This  fulness  of  the  modern  school  program  is  not  only  an  indi- 
cation of  the  many-sidedness  of  modern  life,  but  a  proof  of  the 
closer  relationship  between  the  school  and  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity. Indeed,  one  hears  on  all  sides  the  avowed  intention  to 
make  the  elementary  school,  whether  it  give  the  first  or  the  last 


1  See  Paul  Hanus,  "Our  Chaotic  Education,"  Forum,  April,  1902. 


EXGLISH  LV  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATION       ;i 

instruction  the  pupils  receive,  a  direct  preparation  for  life  in  as 

full  measure  as  possible.     The  school  thus  becomes  not  merely 

a  reflection  of  the  richness  of  modern  life,  but  an  expression  of 

a  spirit  that  is  at  once  social  and  deniocratic.     Another  equally 

obvious  feature  of  the  present  conditions  is  the  disappearance 

of  the  distinctly  academic  view  of  education.     It  is  no  longer 

an  evidence  of  ''  gentility"  to  know  things.     Art,  literature,  and 

history  are  not  felt  to  be  the  exclusive  property  of  the  fortunately 

born,  but  rather  the  inheritance  of  all  who  are  able  to  acquire 

them.     Emerson's  predicted  ideal  of  the  American  scholar  is 

reaching  fulfilment  in  the  universities,  and  is  recognized  as  the 

true  ideal  in  the  lower  schools. 

This  democratic  ideal  in  elementary  education  is  at  once  the 

cause  and  the  explanation  of  one  of  its  dominant  characteristics. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  "  Spontaneity  is  the  key-         naHties 

note  of  education  in  the  United  States.     Its  varied  Democratic 

ideals, 
form,  its  uneven  progress,   its   lack   of  symmetr}'. 

its  practical  effectiveness,  are  all  due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  sprung, 
unbidden  and  unforced,  from  the  needs  and  aspirations  of  the 
people.  Local  preference  and  individual  initiative  have  been  rul- 
ing forces."'  ^  Nowhere  is  the  unevenness  due  to  the  conditions, 
needs,  and  aspirations  of  the  people  greater  or  more  obvious 
than  in  the  elementary  schools.  They  include  the  children  of 
all  grades  of  society  ;  and  although  they  represent  democratic 
ideals,  and  recognize,  in  theory  at  least,  no  difference  between 
the  destination  of  the  son  of  the  day  labourer  and  the  son  of  the 
"gentleman  born,"  although  the  assumption  in  their  courses  of 
study  is  that  both  have  the  same  destination  and  hke  ability, 
yet  out  of  this  very  uniformity  of  theory  spring  the  greatest 
diversities  in  practice.  The  children  of  unintelligent  immigrants, 
who  hear  only  a  foreign  language  at  home,  and  who  have  in  their 
homes  little  or  none  of  the  influences  of  culture  belonging  to 
their  own  vernacular,  may  be  found  in  school  side  by  side  with 
the  children  of  cultivated  native-born  Americans.     In  the  large 


1  Introduction  to  Education  in  the  United  States,  Prof.  X.    M.  Butler, 
J.  B.  Lyon  Company,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1900. 


'J 2      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

cities  the  same  teacher  often  has  to  instruct  children  of  Teu- 
tonic, Slavonic,  and  Latin  origin.  Many  of  them  learn  on  the 
streets  an  English  full  of  idioms  of  foreign  flavour. 

Not  less  striking  are  the  variations  of  condition  due  to  sec- 
tional differences  in  life  and  thought.  In  the  same  city  the 
Sectional  widest  divergences  of  condition  are  possible.  The 
aria  ons.  children  are  familiar  with  different  types  of  life,  are 
growing  up  with  different  family  and  community  ideals,  have 
widely  different  bases  of  judgment.  Town  and  country  life,  too, 
are  growing  increasingly  different.  The  favoured  few  see  both, 
—  the  country  in  the  summer  and  the  town  in  the  winter, — 
and  thus  have  a  fuller  experience.  But  the  children  of  the 
poor  often  have  no  conception  of  nature.^ 

Other  sectional  differences  due  to  other  causes  are  quite  as 
great.  In  many  States  the  schools  are  poorly  equipped  and  worse 
Equipment  of  taught.  Many  teachers  have  not  even  a  good  high 
Teachers.  school  education.  Their  pay  is  not  above  that  of 
the  day  labourer.  Their  position  commands  no  respect  in  the 
community.  The  work  of  teaching  has  too  long  been  no  pro- 
fession, but  only  a  stepping-stone  to  some  more  honourable  and 
lucrative  calling.  Professional  training,  though  rapidly  increas- 
ing, is  yet  far  from  general,  and  in  many  communities  is  seldom 
heard  of.  * 

Although  the  belief  that  the  teacher  must  have  a  sound  edu- 
cation and  special  training  for  his  work  is  rapidly  extending, 
Status  of  the  ^"'^  '^  firmly  held  in  most  States,  especially  in  the 
Profession.  js^orth  and  the  West,  there  are  still  many  teachers 
who  are  almost  what  might  be  called  illiterate :  ignorant  of 
science,  history,  and  literature  they  certainly  are.  Only  in  a 
few  fortunate  localities  is  the  ideal  of  what  constitutes  a  sufficient 
education  for  the  teacher  high  enough.     And  when  the  training 


1  See  G.  Stanley  Hall.  Contents  of  Children's  Minds,  New  York,  1S93. 

-  See  also  two  articles  on  "  The  Case  of  the  Public  Schools,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  p.  402,  G.  Stanley  Hall,  and  p.  534,  F.  W.  Atkinson,  Vol. 
LXXVH.,  March  and  April,  1S96.  See  also  reports  of  the  National 
Commissioner  of  Education. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      73 

and  education  of  the  teacher  are  sufficient,  his  work  is  often 
rendered  ineffective  by  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  done. 
He  frequently  works  under  the  burden  of  too  many  hours,  too 
large  a  class,  too  few  books ;  in  rooms  ill-lighted,  ill-ventilated, 
or  resounding  with  the  noises  of  the  streets. 

There  is  no  centralized  authority  in  the  United  States  to  say 
what  education  shall  be.     The  National  Bureau  of  Education 
makes  reports,  issues  information,  gives  advice,  and   ^ackof 
does  other   wise    and   helpful    things ;    but  it  has  ^^^^^^"^ 
no  power  as  against  the  principle  of  home  rule  in 
our  schools.     The  nearest  approach  to  centralization  is  found 
in  some  States  like  New  York,  Michigan,  and  California,  where 
a  central  board  has  the  power  of  granting  certain  privileges  and 
immunities  to  those  pupils  who  meet  its  requirements  in  their 
own  schools.     But  those  who   are  most  familiar  with  the  oper- 
ations of  these  systems  admit  their  present  ineffectiveness  in 
securing  uniformity. 

Whether,  indeed,  a  high  degree  of  uniformity  is  desirable  is  a 
question  that  may  well  be  asked,  but  that  cannot  well  be  dis- 
cussed here.^  Modern  education  has  recognized  the  importance 
of  the  individual ;  and  the  needs  of  the  individual  community 
may  be  just  as  distinctive  as  the  needs  of  an  individual  pupil. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  inequalities  in  language,  in  race,  and  in 
experience  of  life  which  the  children  bring  to  school  with  them 
must  modify  or  determine  the  methods  by  which  English  is 
taught. 

Under  usual  and  normal  conditions  the  teacher  proceeds 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  child  enters  school  with  a  speak- 
ing knowledge  of  English.  His  work  then  is  to  ex-  Foreign 
tend  the  child's  command  of  the  spoken  language,  idioms, 
and  to  lead  him  to  active  familiarity  with  the  language  in  its 
written  and  printed  form.  When  such  an  initial  assumption 
cannot  be  made,  the  teacher's  task  at  once  becomes  wholly  dif- 
ferent.    It  is  now  the  teaching  of  a  foreign  language  instead  of 


1  See  A.  B.  Hart,  in  School  Review,  I.  14  ff.,  for  the  negative  side. 


74      E.YGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

the  vernacular.  It  is,  moreover,  often  the  teaching  of  a  foreign 
language  to  children  who  do  not  all  speak  the  same  language, 
and-  who  have  therefore,  in  many  points,  to  be  taught  in  differ- 
ent groups. 

Difference  of  race  implies  a  different  heritage  of  ideas. 
What  is  familiar  in  the  Teutonic  home  may  be  strange  in  the 
Race  and  Com-  Italian.  Another  source  of  difference  in  the  mental 
munity  Ideas,  equipment  of  the  child  is  the  character  of  the  region 
in  which  he  is  reared,  and  from  which,  quite  as  much  as  from 
his  immediate  family  associations,  he  gets  his  notions  of  nature 
and  of  human  society.  The  city  child  and  the  country  child 
have  different  experiences  ;  the  wealthy  and  the  poor  see  differ- 
ent things.  But  the  literature  which  they  are  to  read,  and  to 
the  interpretation  of  which  they  must  bring  certain  memories,  is 
the  same,  and  hence  in  many  cases  requires  for  its  interpretation 
experiences  familiar  to  some  children  and  strange  to  others. 

Whether  these  difficulties  can  be  adequately  met  is  still  an  un- 
answered  question.     But   they  must  be  recognized  and  must 

modify  the  teacher's  work.     Only  a  limited  amount 
LangTiage  .  . 

Teaching;  nee-  of  special  work  with  individuals  is  possible.  The 
essarilyim-  .  ,  .         ,  ,  ... 

perfect  and  necessity  ot  teachmg  by  classes  requires  that  in 
incomplete.  ,    ,  ,         .  .    ,      ^      ,.  ,    .  ,. 

general  the  explanation  of  the  English  idiom  or  the 

English  sentiment  be  the  same  for  the  Slav  as  for  the  Teuton. 
The  teacher  must  rely  upon  such  illustrations  and  parallels  as  the 
pupils  can  understand,  and  upon  repetition  of  the  idiom  or  the 
sentiment  until  familiarity  makes  it  part  of  the  mental  possession. 
But  no  matter  how  skilful  or  how  patient  the  teacher,  there 
must  remain  much  that  is  imperfectly  apprehended.  Under 
the  most  favourable  conditions,  in  fact,  any  teaching  of  the 
vernacular  will  be  only  partially  successful.  Scientific  thorough- 
ness and  accuracy  are  impossible  in  the  nature  of  the  case. 
Approximations,  partially  established  habits,  glimmerings  of 
ideas,  nuances,  incongruous  or  distorted  ideas,  mark  the  path 
of  the  efforts  of  the  teacher  of  English.  Imperfect  achieve- 
ments are.  indeed,  the  best  that  can  be  looked  for  in  elementary 
instruction  in  any  subject,  for  the  infant  mind  is  a  very  imper 


EXGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATIOX      75 

feet  machine.  Or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  since  the  mind  is 
an  organism  which  approaches  gradually  to  the  normal  type  by 
processes  of  growth  and  change,  and  the  language  is  a  complex 
and  subtle  instrument  which  only  the  most  highly  trained  and 
organized  minds  can  use  with  skill,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  elementary  instruction  in  English  will  achieve  much  that 
can  be  called  perfect. 

II.   The  Place  of  English  in  the  Lower  Grades 

The  arguments  for  the  old  system,  under  which  English  — 
/.  e.,  reading  and  writing — held  the  chief  place  in  the  primary 
schools,  were  based  partly  on  tradition  and  partly  pormer 
on  utility  and  discipline.  It  was  held  (i)  that  l^^^^^ffte* 
reading  was  the  most  direct  beginning  of  the  child's  Causes, 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  Knowledge  was  to  be  found  in 
books,  and,  so  far  as  the  current  conception  of  knowledge  ex- 
tended, in  books  only ;  it  was  by  knowledge  of  books  that  the 
intelligent  man  was  distinguished  from  the  unintelligent.  More- 
over, the  school  life  was  short,  and  the  acquisition  of  book 
knowledge  must  begin  as  early  as  possible.  If  the  knowledge 
of  the  school  lay  wholly  in  books,  it  was  partly  because  the 
schools  held  a  narrow,  scholastic  conception  of  knowledge,  and 
partly  because  the  simpler  and  less  specialized  conditions  of 
life  afforded  to  most  children  an  opportunity  of  gaining  outside 
the  school-room  instruction  about  the  common  activities  and 
industries  of  society.^ 

(2)  Books  were,  in  an  age  and  time  when  religious  matters 
were  of  supreme  importance,  the  repositories  of  religious  tenets. 
After  the  Reformation  the  power  to  read  was  in  Protestant 
countries  regarded  as  essential  to  the  right  religious  life  of  the 
community. 

(3)  Reading  offered,  moreover,  a  valuable  form  of  discipline  ; 
and  the  disciplinary  idea  of  education  was  secondary  only  to 


1  See  John  Dewey,  "  The  Primary  Education  Fetich,"  Forum,  XII., 
May,  1898. 


^6      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

the  utilitarian  idea.  If  any  defence  were  offered  of  a  study 
not  seen  to  have  practical  bearing  on  the  affairs  of  life,  such  de- 
fence was  almost  certain  to  be  that  it  afforded  discipline.  Of 
such  distinction  between  educational  values  as  that  given  by 
Professor  Laurie  ^  between  training  and  discipline,  between  the 
purely  intellectual  value  and  what  is  loosely  called  cultural,  the 
schools  took  little  account.  It  was  obvious  that  for  the  child 
the  operations  of  reading  and  writing  did  afford  discipline. 
Beginning  with  the  more  minute  elements,  the  letters  and  their 
sounds,  and  appreciating  through  analytic  processes  their  rela- 
tion to  the  word,  and  then  the  relation  of  the  word  to  the  sen- 
tence or  the  idea,  the  pupil  received  undoubtedly  as  rigid  a 
discipline  as  he  was  capable  of. 

To  these  arguments  based  on  an  earlier  point  of  view 
have  since  been  added  others  that  are  based  upon  conditions 
less  changeable. 

(4)  The  literary  unity  is,  rather  than  the  scientific,    that 

which  the  child  can  best  appreciate,  and,  therefore,  that  by 

v/hich  he  receives    the   best  training   in  thought. 
Importance 
of  the  "  Lit-    This    point   of  view  has  been  well   expressed  by 

'  Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder :  ^  "To  the  child  in  his 
earliest  years  the  most  direct  appeal  to  the  imagination  comes 
from  the  clear-sighted  dweller  in  the  ideal  world.  Not  yet 
has  experience  filled  him  with  troubled  questions,  with  doubt, 
with  perplexity  of  mind.  He  is  prone  to  believe,  not  to  dis- 
believe, and  to  him  should  be  brought  the  truth-tellers ;  those, 
that  is,  who  themselves  believe,  whose  eyes  are  open  to  the 
things  of  faith.  Deepen  in  his  mind  the  familiarity  with  what 
lies  beyond  the  visual  organ.  He  has  not  yet  learned  to  be- 
lieve only  what  he  sees.  Fortify  in  him  that  power  of  seeing 
with  the  eye  of  faith,  which  is  so  soon  to  be  assailed  by  hard 
contact  with  things  visible  and  tangible.  I  am  not  pleading 
for  an  idle  chase  of  phantoms  and  vagaries,  but  I  ask,  is  there 


1  Language  and  Linguistic  Method. 

2  "  The    Educational    Law   of    Reading    and    Writing,"   Atlantic 
Monthly,  LXXIII.  254  S..,  February,  1894. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      J  J 

not  a  body  of  literature  —  not  the  cheap  production  of  in- 
different writers,  but  the  rich  deposit  of  centuries  —  which,  by 
its  simplicity,  its  reliance  upon  elemental  truths  of  the  soul, 
its  homely  instincts,  its  free  spirit  of  wonder  and  belief,  appeals 
directly,  surely,  to  the  imagination  of  the  child  ? 

"  Hearing  at  once  these  stories  from  his  books,  the  child 
recognizes  no  change  in  his  habit  of  mind  other  than  an 
expansion  of  his  powers.  There  has  been  no  break  in  his 
natural  development,  but  literature  has  come  in  to  deepen 
one  great  channel  of  his  being.  Not  only  so,  but  the  growth 
of  this  supreme  faculty  of  the  imagination  is  not  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  other  powers,  the  powers  of  understanding,  of 
reasoning,  and  of  practical  sense  ;  it  is  highly  stimulating  to 
the  development  of  these  powers." 

(5)    The  material  found  in  books  is  of    the  greatest  in- 
terest to  the   child,  —  particularly  story  books,  histories,  and 
simple  poems.     In  support  of  this  argument  it  is 
cited  that  children,  particularly  those  of  the  in- 
telligent classes,  learn  to  read  easily  and  are  fond  of  reading 
for  the  pleasure   it  gives.     <■ 

The  greatest  problems  of  the  school  now  present  themselves 
not  so  much  as  questions  of  method  as  of  curriculum.  It  is 
therefore  in  place  to  consider,  in  the  light  of  present  condi- 
tions, the  arguments  upon  which  the  pre-eminence  has  so  long 
been  given  to  reading  and  writing  in  the  early  school  years. 

It  can  no  longer  be  maintained  that  reading  and  writ- 
ing are  the  only  means  of  giving  information  in  the  primary 
grades.  Nature  study,  the  study  of  the  simpler  counter 
elements  of  materials  and  mechanic  arts,  —  in  gJc^noTtiie 
brief,  the  study  of  things  in  the  school-room,  has  °^^  *^^<^- 
been  found  capable  of  filling  the  child's  mind  with  ideas ;  and 
very  young  children  can  learn  more  rapidly  and  with  less  ex- 
penditure of  energy  through  oral  instruction  than  by  reading. 

Still  less  weight  can  be  given  to  the  arguments  based 
upon  the  exclusive  property  of  books  in  knowledge.  Knowl- 
edge, intelligence,  even  mental  power  may  now  be  conceded 
to  those  whose  knowledge  of  books  is  comparatively  limited. 


78      ENGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATION 

The  provinces  of  science,  art,  and  practical  affairs  all  have 
such  men  to  show.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  knowledge  of 
books,  even  such  knowledge  as  an  enlightened  system  of  in- 
struction seeks  to  give,  sufficient  to  insure  a  liberal  education 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term. 

The  fact  of  discipline  in  reading  and  writing  is  not 
gainsaid.  But  of  the  value  of  such  discipline  grave  doubts. 
Doubts  as  based  on  psychological  researches,  have  arisen. 
of  toeD^-°^  It  is  argued:  {a)  the  child  has  not  reached  the 
cipiine.  stage  of  development  at  which  fine  analytic  dis- 

criminations should  be  required  of  him.  Attention  to  minu- 
tiffi  of  any  sort  is  a  severe  tax,  which  results  sometimes  in  loss 
of  interest,  sometimes  in  injury  to  the  ner\-ous  system,  and 
arrested  development.  Advocates  of  this  view  argue  that 
science  and  the  manual  arts  are  better  adapted  to  the  child's 
stage  of  development,  and  more  interesting. 

(/5)  That  discipline  in  and  of  itself  is  of  much  less  efficacy 
than  was  formerly  supposed.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that 
good  intellectual  habits  are  not  necessarily  transferable ;  that 
a  high  degree  of  accuracy  in  one  line  of  activity  is  often  found 
compatible  with  actual  slovenliness  in  another.  In  fine,  that 
discipline  is  valuable  in  and  for  the  field  of  work  in  which  it  is 
given,  and  valueless  for  anything  outside  of  that  field.^  Discipline 
in  reading  and  writing,  then,  while  it  would  make  good  readers 
and  good  writers  of  the  pupils,  would  do  nothing  else  for  them. 

To  the  argument  that  the  literary  unity  is  the  best  kind 
for  the  child,  the  man  of  science  is  most  likely  to  object. 
TheScien-  To  him  the  strict  sequence  of  logic,  the  relation 
tiiac  Unity.  Qf  cause  and  effect,  the  grouping  of  conceptions 
into  classes,  has  come  to  seem  the  easy  and  normal  process 
of  the  mind.  It  must  be  admitted  that  children  manifest 
an  early  interest  in  facts  and  their  causes  in  logical  relation- 
ships;  and  that  literary  unity  is  often  fantastic,  superficial, 
or  arbitrary,  and  based  on  mere  seemings  and  unrealities. 


1  Thorndike    and  Woodworth,  Psychological  Rrcieui,  VIII.   247-261, 
384-395.  and  553-564. 


EXGLISH  L\  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATION      79 

Children    are    undoubtedly    interested    in    things    that    lie 
outside  the  realm  of  books.     To  the  bright  child  books  often 
seem  dull  and  stupid  compared  with  the  vividness 
and  reality  of  the  world  around  him,  with  sp^orts, 
industries,  the  properties  of  things,  the  womers  of  nature. 

To  all  these  arguments  must  be  conceded  a  certain  validity. 
Books  are  no  longer  the  only  vehicle  ofi  knowledge.  The 
disciplinary  value  of  learning  to  read  and  to  write  may  be 
overestimated  or  misapplied.  The  literary  unity  is  assuredly 
not  the  only  method  of  organizing  ideas  that  the  child  can 
appreciate.  Nor  is  the  material  found  in  books  always  that  of 
most  absorbing  interest  to  him.  What  theij  shall  we  accept  as  a 
present  and  approximate  answer  to  the  questions  here  raised? 

(i)  Although  books  are  no  longer  the  exclusive  sources  of 
knowledge,  yet  the  printed  page  is  still  so  much  the  means  of 

recording   and  transmitting   the   majority   of  ihe 

111-  .      .    •  J  .1,1  1  •       Books  still 

Avorld  s  aiiportant  ideas,  that  the  power  to  read  is,   the  Principal 
r     .  ^1  .^     .        .       Media. 

m  tact,  more  than  ever  a  prime   necessity  m  t|ie 

equipment  of  every  one  for  capable  busines?  activity,  for 
intelligent  citizenship,  and  for  culture ;  and  therefore,  al- 
though reading  can  no  longer  claim  the  exclusive  place  in  a 
scheme  of  primary  education,  the  burden  of  proof  still  rests 
upon  those  who  would  assign  to  it  a  secondary  place.  It  is 
indispensable  as  an  instrument  for  further  education,  and  no 
abandonment  or  postponement  of  its  supremacy-can  be  con- 
sidered except  upon  reasonable  probability  of  the  greatest 
physical  and  mental  welfare  of  the  child. 

(2)   Nor    can    the    disciplinary    element    in    the    primary 
schools  be  ignored.     It  has  long  been  recognized  that  an  ill- 
managed  Kindergarten  is  a  foe  to  good  work  in 
the  primary   school.^     In    the   same   way   the  ill-   Discipline 
regulated  work  of  the  primary  school  may  breed  s:nage. 

habits  of  inattention  and  general  intellectual  flabbiness,  to  the 


^  For  a  somewhat  extreme  statement,  see  "  The  Kindergarten  Child, 
—  after  the  Kindergarten,"  by  Marion  H.  Carter,  Atlantic  Monthly, 
LXXXIII.,  March,^iS99. 


80      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

frustration  of  the  work  in  higher  grades.  There  must  be  dis- 
ciphne,  from  the  beginning  of  the  school  hfe ;  and  the  disci- 
phne  in  reading  and  writing  is  within  a  field  of  activity  neces- 
sary for  the  child  both  in  school  and  in  after  life. 

(3)  This  discipline  must  be  adapted  to  the  capacities  of 
the  child.  Science  and  the  manual  arts,  when  well  taught, 
Science  and      ^^^°   furnish  discipline.     They  cultivate   the   habit 

ti^eManual  of  observation,  they  lead  to  sound  knowledge  of 
Artslnsuffi-  '  •'  » 

cient.  the  relations  of  things.     They  are  within  the  range 

of  the  child's  powers  and  interests.  In  so  far  they  hold  exactly 
the  same  claim  to  a  place  in  the  primary  curriculum  as  do 
reading  and  writing.  Judged  by  their  results  as  well  as  by  their 
inherent  value,  they  have  proved  their  right  to  be  there.  They 
do  not,  however,  give  all  the  training  which  children  at  this 
stage  should  receive.  The  language  faculty,  though  more  or 
less  involved  in  teaching  these  subjects,  can  with  difficulty,  or 
not  at  all,  receive  through  them  alone  the  degree  of  develop- 
ment of  which  it  is  capable.  The  child's  command  of  lan- 
guage is  fixed  and  enriched  by  reading  and  writing ;  and 
accuracy  of  thought  and  expression  are  almost  conditioned 
upon  such  exercise.  Interest  in  language  itself,  the  conscious 
attention  to  expression,  is  an  essential  of  the  cultivated  mind  ; 
and  such  interest  is  more  likely  to  be  aroused  if  the  begin- 
nings of  reading  and  writing  are  made  early  in  the  school  life. 

(4)  The  literary  unity  seems  to  be  the  prevailing  method  of 
organization  in  the  child's  mind.  The  play  of  fancy,  and  even 
The  Literary  ^he  jingle  of  nonsense  rhymes  and  the  fantastic  tale 
tcfthe  Child's  ^^^  congenial  to  his  taste  ;  here  words  and  ideas  are 
Mind.  presented  in  an  order  that  he  can  easily  follow.  It  is 
not  always  the  order  of  wisdom  or  of  logic  ;  it  is  often  the  order 
of  play.  But  play  is  one  of  the  child's  means  of  giving  his 
faculties  exercise.  In  the  more  serious  literature,  the  stories  of 
heroes,  etc.,  the  child  finds  motives  that  he  can  understand 
and  imitate,  appreciates  the  relation  of  motive  to  action,  and 
so  comprehends  the  organization,  the  inner  unity,  of  the  story. 
Moreover,  the  literary  unity  is  the  one  to  which  he  is  first  ac- 
customed.    His  playmates  and  his  parents  view  life  and  speak 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      8l, 

of  it,  though  crudely,  in  the  way  the  maker  of  tales  views  it, 
and  not  as  the  scientist  does, 

(5)  Finally,  since  the  spontaneous  interests  of  children  un- 
doubtedly include  the  things  found  in  books  as  well  as  the 
things  outside  of  books,  it  is  advisable  to  seize  upon  this  inter- 
est as  early  as  it  is  available,  and  to  turn  it  to  account  in  the 
necessary  task  of  learning  to  read  and  to  write. 

The  conclusion  would  then  seem  to  be  that  the  study  of  read- 
ing and  writing  can  neither  claim  the  lion's  share  of  the  time  in 

the  primary  school,  nor  be  put  aside  as  a  subordinate 
,  .  •  ...  1-1  Summary, 

thing.     Its  necessity,  its  interest,  and  its   adapt- 
ability to  the  child's  stage  of  mental  growth  claim  for  it  a  place 
second  to  no  other  subject  in  the  school  day. 

Enthusiasts  in  the  cause  of  English  study  have  undoubtedly 
done   it   some  harm  by  unreasonable  demands  in  its  behalf. 

Realizing  that  it  needed  improvement,  and    that 

.     ,  .   ,  How  much 

more  concentration  was  one  of  the  essential  con-   Xjmeinthe 
J-..-         ^      -^    •  ,.    ^u       L  J     1         Later  Grades? 

ditions  to  its  improvement,  they  have  argued  that 

it  should  receive  throughout  the  entire  elementary  course  more 

time  than  all  other  subjects  included.     Such  a  claim  disregards 

the  impoverishment  of  the  school  curriculum  that  would  result 

from  curtailing  the  work  in  science,  history,  and  the  manual  arts, 

and  ignores  the  opportunities  of  the  capable  teacher  for  training 

in  English  in  all  the  work  of  the  school.   How  much  time  should 

be  given  to  English  it  is  perhaps  unwise  to  attempt  to  state  in 

numerical   terms.     During    the    earlier  years,   until,  say,    the 

fifth  year  in  school,  perhaps  a  third  of  the  total  time  of  the 

school  can  be  wisely  given  to  it.     After  the  fifth  year,  when 

reading  and  writing  have  become  comparatively  easy,  the  time 

may  be  safely  lessened,  until  in  the   last  year  it  includes  no 

more  than  an  hour  a  day.     Less  than  this  it  should  never  be. 

III.   Primary  Reading  Matter. 

In  its  general  use  the  term  "  education  "  has  long  included, 
and  is  still  -often  understood  to  include,  little  more  than  the 
ability  to-  read   and  write.     This   idea  survives   in  the    legal 


S3       ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

meaning  of  the  term  "illiteracy"  :  inability  to  read  and 
write.  To  be  able  to  read  and  write  was  to  be  "  lettered," 
that  is,  educated.  It  is  therefore  to  be  expected  that 
the  history  of  the  teaching  of  reading  and  writing  would 
be  an  interesting  and  important  chapter  in  the  history  of  edu- 
cation. Learning  to  read  and  write  has  been  to  many  children 
a  painful  process,  whose  difficulties  have  been  a  puzzle  to 
thoughtful  teachers  and  a  stumbling-block  to  the  unskilful. 
Quintilian  thought  it  worth  while  to  prescribe  ^  —  though  with 
apologies  for  introducing  a  matter  so  elementary  —  the  manner 
in  which  reading  and  writing  should  be  begun.  And  so 
important  did  this  early  instruction  seem  to  Plato  that  he 
dwells  at  length  upon  the  kind  of  reading  to  be  given  to  the 
youth  of  an  ideal  republic.=^ 

Modern  educational  thought  has  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  subject  the  results  of  scientific  experiment  and  common 
Modern  experience    as  well  as   the    deductions    of  philo- 

^'  sophical  speculation.  To  the  Germans  more  than 
to  any  one  else  we  owe  the  discussion  of  materials  and 
methods,  the  enthusiastic  advocacy  of  new  theories,  the  long 
and  patient  series  of  experiment  and  observation.  France  has 
had  theorists  who  have  made  notable  advances  in  method, 
especially  the  Port  Royalists,  Rousseau  and  Jacotot.  Eng- 
land has  had  some  clear  voices,  like  Mulcaster  and  Ascham, 
who  have  wisely  advocated  the  study  of. the  mother- tongue. 
The  United  States  has  within  recent  years  taken  up  the  best  — 
as  well  as  the  worst  —  of  these  various  theories,  and  by  patient 
and  enthusiastic  discussion  and  expeiimjspt  helped  to  clear 
away  much  of  the  confusion  gathered  around  the  subject.  But 
the  fact  stands,  that  the  development;  of  the  teaching  of  reading 
Our  Indebted-  ^"^  writing,  from  the  long-established  but  severe 
GennaiB^^  and  irrational  plan  of  beginning  with  the  names 
of  the  letters  and  spelling  them  into  words,  to 
the  kindlier  and  wiser  methods  of  to-day,  is  best  presented  in 
the  history  of  the  common  schools  of  Germany,  from  the  efforts 


1  De  Oratore,  Book  I.  chapter  i.  2  Laws,  VII.  S09-818. 


ENGLISH  LY  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      S3 

of  Ickelsamer,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  to 
the  practices  now  established  in  their  primary  schools.  Within 
these  four  hundred  years  of  German  educational  activity,  virtu- 
ally every  theory  of  what  should  be  read,  how  much,  when,  and 
how;  ever)' theory  of  how  the  beginnings  of  reading,  writing, 
and  spelling  should  be  made  ;  in  brief,  the  whole  problem  of  the 
teaching  of  the  mother-tongue  in  the  elementary  schools,  has 
been  considered,  and  tested  by  experiment. 

In  contemplating  this  development  ^  two  phases  of  the  sub- 
ject appear  :  teachers  have  taken  thought  over  what  should  be 
read  and  how  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing  should  be  taught. 
The  question  of  what  to  read  will  first  be  discussed,  in  its  history^ 
and  present  phases. 

The  history  of  the  modern  movement  begins  with  the  period 
of  the  Reformation.  Before  that  time  there  could  not  be  said 
to  be  any  general  interest  in  popular  education.  Be^iniiiiigs 
Following  the  Reformation  came  the  wider  spread  £d^c°aaon^tiie 
of  the  ability  to  read  and  write.  Book  learning  Reformation, 
was  less  confined  to  clerks  and  monks.  Skill  in  wielding  arms 
and  familiarity  with  the  codes  of  chivalry  were  ceasing  to  be 
the  only  elements  of  the  education  of  the  upper  classes.  The 
invention  of  printing  had  made  books  more  accessible.  The 
expansion  of  commerce  had  given  to  education  a  practical 
value.  The  growth  of  the  ideas  for  which  Luther  stood,  and 
which  implied  the  right  and  duty  of  ever}'  man  to  read  the 
Bible,  was  a  direct  cause  of  the  more  general  interest  in 
educational  methods  and  materials. 

Interest  in  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue,  which  m  the 
eighteenth  century  looked  to  the  development  of  its  possibili- 
ties for  literature,  had   in  view   in    the   sixteenth 

.....  ^  ...    School  Read- 

century  especially  its  miportance  for  practical  and   ing  at  first 

ethical    ends.      The     first    school    readers    after    '    ° 

the    Reformation    were,    as    was    natural,    distinctly   religious 

1  This  topic  is  fully  treated  in  the  excellent  work  of  Carl  Kehr, 
Geschichte  des  deuischen  Utiterrichts  in  der  Volksschide.  See  also  the 
interesting  monograph  ot  President  G.  Stanley  Hall,  How  to  Teach 
Reading- 


84      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

in  character.  Prior  to  the  Reformation  the  schools  had  only 
an  A  B  C  book,  or  a  primer,  which  contained  the  alphabet, 
a  collection  of  syllables,  and  certain  extracts  of  a  religious 
nature.^  In  one  of  the  school  books  of  the  Reformation 
period  we  find  the  following  table  of  contents :  a  grace, 
and  a  thank  offering  after  the  meal,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Creed,  and  the  Ten  Commandments.  In  another,  by  Ickel- 
samer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Last  Supper,  the  Magnificat,  the  Benedictus,  etc.  Pas- 
sages from  the  Bible,  —  especially  the  Lord's  Prayer  and 
the  Ten  Commandments,  —  the  hymns  of  Luther,  and  cer- 
tain other  parts  of  the  service  of  the  church,  continue  to 
reappear  as  the  principal  reading  maUer  of  the  primary 
schools,  partly  because  of  the  serious  religious  temper  of 
the  German  people,  partly,  no  doubt,  because  there  was  as 
yet  but  lijtle  German  literature  to  dispute  the  supremacy  of 
•  distinctly  religious  writings  in  the  affections  of  the  people.  ' 
The  German  word  for  primer,  Fib^el,  is  now  understood  to 
have  meant  Utile  bible,  and  its  purpose  as  an  introduction 
to  the  Bible  is  evident  enough.  Though  other  types  of  books 
began  to  be  introduced  into  the  schools,  and  the  reli- 
gious reading-books  came  gradually  to  be  diluted  with  other 
i material,  the  Bible  continued  to  hold  the  field  until  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  controversies  over  its  use  were  many 
and  often  bitter.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
its  use  as  a  school  reading-book  in  Prussia  was  forbidden  , by  ^ 
law. 
jL.  The  second  important  stage  in  the  development  of  the 
reading-book  is  represented  in  the  work  of  Basedovy  (1723- 

1790)  and  the  so-called  philanthropinists.  Rec- 
of  Pleasure      ognizing   the    hardship   of  learning  to  read,    and 

the  lack  of  interest  for  the  child  in  the  books  to 
be  read,  Basedow  compiled  a  primer  in  which  the  children 
read  of  things  pleasant  to  eat  and  to  see  :  of  almonds,  raisins, 
apples,  etc.     In  his  school  the  children  played  out  in  games 


l-Fechner,  Geschichte  des  Volksschul-Lesebuches. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      85 

their  learning  of  German  and  Latin,  and  were  rewarded  with 

sweetmeats  when  they  answered  well,  —  in  short,  had  the  task 

of  learning  made  pure  play.^     His  work  called  forth  much  local 

enthusiasm  and  much  general  scorn.     But  it  did,  at  any  rate, 

contribute   a  valuable   idea   to    education. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth   century  appeared  the 

first  two  school  reading-books,  in  the  modern  sense   of  the 

term.     Eberhard  von    Rochow    issued  in   1776  a  3 

1.      1  „     ,  ,,.,.,.  The  First 

book  contammg  so-called  "  moral  tales,     illustrat-    School 

ing  the  virtues  of  politeness,  modesty,  and  so  on,   the  "Moral 
in  the  place  of  the  religious  extracts  of  the  ear- 
lier period.     Rochow  advised  that  the  children  should  first  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  simple  sounds  and  the  written  and 
printed  names  of  simple  and  familiar  things ;  that  they  should 
be  led  to  talk  of  these,  and  their  oral  speech  be  inade  more 
ready  and  accurate  while  they  were  learning  to  read.     When 
they  had  learned  to  read  words  of  one  syllable  with  some  readi- 
ness, they  took  his  Child7-en''s  Friend,  and  had  practice  in  read-"* 
ing  simple  matter  adapted  to  their  tastes  and  capacities.     By  / 
this  system  the  emphasis  was  thrown  first  upon  instruction  inf 
language,  and  thgn  upon  the  choice  of  material  suitable  fromi^ 
the  points  of  view  of  interest  and  difficulty.     The  book  is  said 
to  have  reached  a  circulation  of  one  hundred  thousand  cop- 
ies.    The  primer  of  Christian  Felix  Weisze,  issued  at  Leipsic 
in  1772,  is  equally  remarkable.     Its  title  ^  indicates  its  char- 
acter.    It  contained  short  stories,  fables,  songs7  prayers,  little 
verses,  and  an  illustration  with  each  letter  of  the  alphabet,  like 
the  modern  nursery  books.     It  soon  attained  a  sixth  edition 
and  a  translation  into  French.     These  two  books  are  repre- 
sentative of  the  type  of  school  reader  which  was  displacing  the 
religious  primer>  and  which  by  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  came  to  be  generally  adopted.     Bui  the  struggle  was 

1  For  an  interesting  account  of  Basedow^  work  and  method,  see  The 
American  Journal  of  Education,  V.  487-520.  Hartford,  Conn.,  and 
London,  18  58. 

■■^  Neues  ABC-Buck,  ftebst  einigen  khinen  Uebtmgen  zvtd  Ur.terhalt- 
tingenfur  Kinder  ;  mit  25  illumhiicrten  Abbildungen  auf  13   Tafeln. 


86       ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

long  and  often  bitter.  The  prejudice  in  favour  of  the  old  was 
due  not  only  to  that  conservatism  which  resists  changes  as 
such,  but  to  a  religious  zeal  that  feared  the  undermining  of  the 
national  faith.  In  many  places  the  opposition  to  the  new  type 
of  readers  included  whole  communities,  and  in  one  instance 
there  arose  an  actual  insurrection,  due  to  the  omission  from 
the  primer  of  the  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

In  the  interval  between  the  Reformation  and  the  nineteenth 
/century  there  were  of  course  many  types  of  primers.  Most 
of  them  preserved  the  prominent  features  of  the  older  type, 
while  including  characteristics  of  the  newer  sort.  The  changes 
indicated  above  had  in  these  three  centuries  introduced  into 
school  readers  certain  new  elements:  (i)  a  recognition  of  the 
child's  tastes  and  aptitudes  ;  (2)  the  use  of  other  than  religious 
reading;  (3)  the  introduction  into  the  school  of  such  matter 
as  the  pupil  might  be  supposed  to  continue  to  read  after 
leaving  school;  and  (4)  recognition  of  the  importance  of 
method. 

As  in  Germany,  so  in  the  United  States,  the  dominant  ideas 
of  the  people  have  determined  the  character  of  the  school 
TheWewEng-  readers. ^  From  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
land  Primer,  century  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,^ 
The  New  England  Primer-  was  the  principal  school  book./ 
It  went  through  many  editions,  and  its  aggregate  circula- 
tion probably  reached  several  hundred  thousand  copies.  Its 
origin,  like  that  of  the  German  primers,  goes  back  to  the 
Reformation.  Henry  VIII.,  while  in  conflict  with  the  Church 
of  Rome,  caused  a  primer  to  be  issued  in  1534  (the  same 
date  as  Ickelsamer's)  with  the  title  "A  Prymer  in  Englyshe 
with  certeyn  prayers  and  goodly  meditations,  very  necessary 
for  all  people  that  understonde  not  the  Latyne  tongue.  Cum 
privilegio  regali."  In  1535  and  again  in  1545  he  had  primers 
reflecting  the  further  modification  of  his  religious  views.  The 
latter,  known  as  the  Henry    VIII.  Printer,  was  designated  as 


^  See  The  Historical  Development  of  School  Readers,  by   Rudolph  R. 
Reader. 

2  See  The  New  England  Trimer,  by  Paul  Leicester  Ford» 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY   EDUCATION      8/ 

"The  Primer  set  forth  by  the  King's  Majesty,  and  his  Clergy 
to  be  taught,  learned,  and  read,  and  none  other  to  be  used 
throughout  all  his  dominions."  As  preliminary  to  this  there 
was  an  A  B  C  book  containing  the  alphabet  and  a  catechism. 
Later  they  became  united ;  the  ABC  book  was  made  to  in- 
clude also  the  substance  of  the  Primer,  and  this  combination 
soon  reached  a  wide  circulation.  Both  the  ABC  book  and 
the  primer  were  thus  devotional  books  more  elementary  than 
the  Bible  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  were,  like  the 
German  primer,  religious  in  content  and  purpose. 

One  of  the  earliest  enactments  of  the  Puritans  in  New  Eng- 
land was  a  requirement  that  every  township  of  fifty  or  more 
householders  should  provide  a  teacher  for  instructing  the 
children  to  write  and  read,  that  they  might  know  the  Bible.* 
Teachers  of  reading  and  writing  and  of  the  catechism  had, 
indeed,  been  appointed  soon  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Out  of  this  earnest  religious  purpose  grew  up  a  number  of 
catechisms,  the  forerunners  of  the  Netv  England  Primer, 
One  Benjamin  Harris,  printer  and  author,  finding  London 
temporarily  inhospitable  to  his  religious  opinions,  opened  a 
book-shop  and  coffee-house  in  Boston  in  1686.  While  in 
England  he  had  published  in  1679  The  Protestant  Tutor,  a 
book  designed  "  to  bring  up  children  in  an  Aversion  to  Popery." 
It  contained  the  "  portrait  of  the  reigning  sovereign  as  a  fron- 
tispiece, and  portions  of  the  text  were  the  Roman  Small  Letters, 
the  Syllabarium,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, the  John  Roger  biography  and  verses,  though  not 
the  famous  picture  of  the  martyr  at  the  stake,  the  words  of 
from  two  to  seven  syllables,  the  Proper  Names,  and  a  catechism, 
together  with  much  other  material  for  the  benefit  of  youth  and 
the  injury  of  Papacy."  "^  This  book  was  reissued  in  1680,  and 
again  in  Boston  in  1685.  Some  time  between  1687  and  1690 
it  was  again  issued  in  Boston,  abridged  and  made  more  of  a 
school   book,  under  the   title  of  The  New  England  Primer. 


^  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  II.  203. 
'  Ford,  The  New  England  Primer,  pp.  34-35. 


88       ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

It  soon  became  the  school  primer  of  New  England,  and  is 
known  to  have  been  printed  in  large  numbers  in  the  Quaker 
City  of  Philadelphia.  Successive  editions  modified  and 
puritanized  the  contents.  For  example,  the  rhymes  and 
pictures  given  with  the  alphabet,  which  at  first  presented 
secular  and  familiar  ideas,  gave  place  to  purely  biblical 
matter  : 

The  Lion  bold  Lot  fled  to  Zoar, 

The  Lamb  doth  hold,      became         Saw  fiery  shower,  ''' 

on  Sodom's  power. 

* 
Time  cuts  down  all  Young  Timothy, 

Both  great  and  small.       became         Learned  Sin  to  fly. 

The  shorter  catechism  became  a  permanent  part  of  the  book. 
As  successive  editions  appeared,  various  minor  changes  were 
made.  In  deference  to  the  ideas  of  the  new  republic,  the  reign- 
ing sovereign's  portrait  gave  place  to  that  of  Samuel  Adams  or 
of  Washington.  As  the  rigidity  of  Puritanism  relaxed,  the^ 
'  verses  of  the  Primer  grew  less  biblical  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  these 
minor  changes,  the  essential  tone  of  the  Primer  remained  un- 
changed until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Like  its 
predecessors  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  it  was  religious,  even 
doctrinal,  in  character,  was  an  introduction  to  the  Bible,  and 
in  general,  reflected,  in  New  as  in  old  England,  the  close  con- 
nection between  school  instruction  and  religion. 

After  the  Revolution  the  material  of  elementary  instruction 
in  reading  in  America  underwent  a  change  not  unlike  that 
Secniari-  which  it  passed  through  in  Germany.  With  the 
School  Read-  growth  of  the  colonies,  their  experiences  in  the 
ing  Matter.  Revolution  and  their  contact  with  France,  Puritan- 
ism lost  something  of  its  ascendancy  and  a  more  secular  tone 
entered  into  the  school  books  as  it  had  into  the  life  of  the 
people.  This  change  of  tone  is  clearly  foreshadowed  even  in 
the  Primer.  In  other  school  readers  moral  lessons,  not  bib- 
lical and  often  prudential  only,  found   a  place.     The  widely 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      89 

popular  aphorisms  of  Franklin,  poetry  and  stories,  and  frag- 
ments of  patriotic  speeches,  were  now  inserted.     The  leading/ 
books  of  this  type  were  the   spelling-book  and  school  reader/ 
of  Noah  Webster,   issued    near   the    end    of  the    eighteenth 
century.  - 

No  school  book  has  had  so  wide  a  circulation  in  this  country  ^ 
as  Webster's  Speller.    It  is  still  in  use  in  many  schools,  and  in 
its  various  editions  has  probably  reached  a  circula-   xhe  Webster  1 
tion  of  near  one  hundred  millions.     The  earlier  Speller. 
editions  contained  reading  matter  as  well  as  orthography  and 
orthoepy. 

"The  edition  in  use  previous  to  the  revision  of  1831 
comprised  168  pages,  14  of  which  are  introductory;  66  con- 
tain words  taken  from  the  dictionary ;  29  pages  contain  the 
names  of  persons,  places,  etc.;  47  contain  reading  lessons; 
8  contain  pictures  and  fables ;  4  contain  numbers,  abbrevia- 
tions, explanations  of  the  characters  used  in  writing,  and  a 
census  of  the  United  States.  The  edition  pubhshed  in  1831 
contains  several  poems,  a  moral  catechist,  including  abstract 
treatises  on  humility,  mercy,  anger,  justice,  gratitude,  avarice, 
frugality,  industry,  etc. ;  precepts  concerning  the  social  rela- 
tions, in  which  the  young  man,  young  woman,  husband,  wife, 
parent,  and  child  are  all  briefly  instructed  and  admonished 
concerning  their  duties  and  responsibilities.  Eight  pictures 
illustrate  as  many  fables,  the  first  of  which  is  the  story  of  the 
boy  that  stole  apples,  which  Mr.  Scudder  (in  his  life  of 
Webster)  says  he  has  never  been  able  to  trace  back  of 
W^ebster,  but  through  him  it  has  become  part  of  our  mental 
furniture.  This  story,  with  the  picture  of  the  old  man  in  his 
continental  coat,  knee-breeches,  and  high  hat ;  that  of  the 
enterprising  but  unfortunate  milkmaid,  who  would  have  a 
green  gown  with  the  profits  of  milk,  eggs,  and  chickens  yet  to 
be  hatched  ;  poor  Tray  in  bad  company  ;  the  farmer  inter- 
viewing the  lawyer,  whose  ox  first  was  and  then  was  not  the 
gored  one,  were  all  read  and  re-read  a  hundred  times  by 
the  millions  of  boys  and  girls  who  toed  the  mark  and  spelled 
in  a  row."  ^ 


1  Reeder,  Historical  Development  of  School  Readers. 


n/ 


90      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

Webster's  reading-book  was  the  third  of  the  series  known 
as  a  Grammatical  Institute  of  the  Enghsh  Language.  (A  gram- 
jjjg  mar  was  the  second  of  the  series.)     The  reader 

"  liistitute."  bore  its  table  of  contents  and  its  purposes  on  its 
title-page :  "  An  American  Selection  of  Lessons  in  Reading 
and  Speaking,  calculated  to  improv^e  the  mind  and  refine  the 
taste  oLyouth,  and  also  to  instruct  them  in  the  Geography,  His- 
tory, and  Politics  of  the  United  States.  To  which  are  prefixed 
rules  in  Elocution,  and  directions  for  expressing  the  principal 
passions  of  the  mind.  Being  the  third  part  of  a  Grammatical 
Institute  of  the  English  Language,  by  Noah  Webster,  Jr., 
Esquire." 

Within  the  nineteenth  century  the  contents  of  readers  in  the 
United  States  have  been  of  different  types :    ( i )   the  graded 
word  lessons,  in  which  the  reading  matter  is  made 
Century  to  order,  much  after  the  fashion  of  the  Ollendorff 

method,  rather  for  the  sake  of  introducing  easy 
words  than  for  any  sense  or  form  ;  (2)  the  "  moral  tales,"  which 
held  their  ascendancy  until  a  comparatively  recent  period  ;  (3)" 
the  patriotic  selections,  mainly  from  our  own  poets  and  orators, 
which  are  still  recognized  and  defended,  and  confined  mainly 
to  the  years  beyond  the  primary  school ;  (4)  the  "  informa- 
tion lessons,"  which  are  likewise  retained;  (5)  purely  literary 
extracts,  ranging  from  nursery  rhymes  and  tales  to  selections 
fronfi  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson. 

'  As  we  have  already  shown,  the  ideals  of  contemporary  civil- 
ization have  largely  determine^  the  selection  of  the  primary 
Principles  of  reading.  In  the  development  of  educational 
Selection.  thought  there  came  a  time,  however,  when  fhe 
pedagogical  ideal  prevailed ;  when  the  reading  matter  was 
selected  largely  with  reference  to  its  power  to  maintain  the 
interest  of  the  children  and  to  facilitate  the  process  of 
learning  to  read,  as  in  the  work  of  Basedow  and  PT^chnw 
in  Germany,  and  in  readers  like  those  of  McGuffey  in  the 
United  States. 

The  third  stage  of  the  movement  came  in  the  last  quarter  >^ 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  out  of  disbelief  in  the  peda- 


EXGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      91 

gogical  effectiveness  of  the  graded    '*  exercises."   and  in  the 
cultural  value  ofthe  moral  tales  and  information  lessons,  there 
grew  an  attempt  to  select  as  school  reading  ma-   present 
terial  that  which  should  combine  the  desired  liter-    standards, 
ary  worth  with  the  qualities  of  thought  and  style  suitable  to  the 
teaching  ot^young  children.    These  qualities,  it  was  discovered, 
coexisted  in  a  considerable  amount  of  our  good  literature.     A 
survey  of  the  successful  primary  reading  material  ofthe  present 
time  indicated  (i)  that  the  pedagogical  needs  of  the  children,^ 
as  now  understood,  are  the  principal  element  in  determining  ' 
the  reading  matter ;   (2)  that  these  needs  are  understood  to 
include  {a)   simplicity  in  thought  and   form  of  the  material, 
{l>)  the  use  of  familiar  words,  {c)  the  choice  of  material  good  , 
in  itself,  either  as  information  or  as  literature.     Within  thesej 
principles  of  choice  there  is,  obviously,  room   for  consider- 
able variation,  both  from  the  literary  preferences  of  the  indi- 
vidual compiler  and  from  his  notions  of  the  educational  value 
and  fitness  of  the  material. 

The  question  of  what  to  read  thus  seems  to  be  reaching  at 
least  an  empirical  answer.  But  the  answer  is  not  of  that  final 
sort  that  precludes  the  necessity  of  further  discus-  Books  for 
sion.  What,  therefore,  are  the.  claims  of  the  vari-  Children, 
ous  types  of  reading  matter  given  in  the  primary  school  ?  What 
relations  have  they  to  the  work  of  the  school  as  such,  and  to 
those  larger  purposes  for  which  the  school  is  instituted  ? 

I.  Nursery  rhymes,  such  as  the   Mother  Goose  nonsense V 
rhymes,  have  found  their  way  from  the  home  into  the  school. 
Most  of  the   Alother  Goose  rhymes   have  trium-   j^gnsense 
phantly  stood  the  supreme  literary  test  —  that  of  Rhymes, 
time.^     Some  of  them  are  centuries  old  ;  most  of  them  are  of 
respectable  antiquity,^  and  their  counterparts  are  found,  among 
most  of  the  races  of  mankind.     Such  universality  and  persist- 
ence depend,  of  course,  upon  their  power  to  please  children ; 


^  Many  of  the  modern  followers  of  Mother  Goose  have  written  well. 
Notable  am.ng  them  are  Edward  Lear  and  Peter  Newell, 
2  See  the  Publications  of  the  Percv  Society,  IV. 


92       ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

and  this  is  one  reason  for  their  place   in   the   school-room. 
Children  like  the  sounds,  and  remember  them ;  they  like  the 
images,  and    remember  them.     Moreover,  such    simple  and 
primitive  rhymes  and  rhythm,  such  freedom  in  the  realm  of 
vocal  sound,  give  these  nursery  classics  a  special  educational 
value.    When  the  child  in  the  nursery,  the  kindergarten,  or  the 
primary  school    repeats   to   himself   meaningless    rhymes,   or 
gibberish  with  or  without  meaning,  he  is  giving  one  sort  of 
training  to  his  powers  of  speech  just  as  truly  as  he  is  develop- 
ing his  motor  system  in  his  physical  play.     It  is,  in  fact,  to  the 
/  play  element  in  the  child  that  these  nonsense-rhymes  especially 
/  appeal ;  and  the  value  of  play  in  early  education  has  long  been 
'  recognized. 

To  most  children  nothing  can  better  make  reading  seem  an 
acquaintance  with  real  things  than  to  read  matter  with  which 
they  are  so  well  acquainted  as  with  these  nursery  favourites ; 
\  and  a  sense  of  the  reality  of  reading  is  of  prime  importance. 
To  children  who  have  not  already  known  this  child  literature, 
it  seems  to  most  of  us  like  a  tardy  recognition  of  their  natural 
rights  to  give  it  to  them  in  school.  The  phrases  and  the  ideas 
contained  in  it  are  among  the  common  literary  property  of  the 
race,  used  with  more  frequency  and  more  generally  understood 
than  the  fragments  from  greater  classics. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  objected  that  nonsense  furnishes 
no  mental  food,  that  children  should  be  given  only  what  has 
logical  connection,  and  that  there  is  plenty  of  material  for 
children  that  is  equally  entertaining  and  more  sensible.  To 
the  last  objection,  primary  teachers  are  likely  to  reply  that 
they  have  not  found  the  material  abundant ;  to  the  first  and 
\  second,  that  the  demonstrated  value  of  play  in  education  has 
1   rehabilitated  Mother  Goose. 

2.  Scenes  of  home-life  in  poetry,  story,  and  description 
are  excellent  primary  reading-matter.  Children  have  a  lively 
literatnre  interest  in  these  familiar  things.  Domestic  animals, 
Thin™^*'^  toys,  games,  food,  nature,  and  all  the  elemental 
things  that -enter  into  their  little  world  "Nre  to  them 
matters  of  grave    importance.      Some  of  these  things  have 


ENGLISH  h\  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      93 

found    expression    in  literature    simple   enough    for    six-year- 
olds.     Whenever  the    author  gets  the   child's  point   of  view 
and  writes  of  what  the   child  knows,  he  can  get   a   hearing.- 
Such  literature  has,   like    the    nursery  rhymes,   the    value   of/ 
making  the  reading-lesson  seem   to   the    child    to  deal  with/ 
real  things.     But  for  the  trivial,  the  commonplace  treatment » 
of  these    things    in  made-to-order  books,  the  present  writer 
sees  no  place,  unless  it  be  for  the  sake  of  mere  drill. 

3,    Stories    and    accounts    of   primitive   life  have  a  special 
interest   for  young  children.     Waiving  the  discussion  of  the 
'•culture-epoch"  theory — that  every  child  epito-   priu^tive 
mizes  in  his  development  the  experiences  of  the   ^^^• 
race  in  its  progress    from  barbarism  to  civilization  —  as  not 
appropriate  here,^  we  may  confidently  assert  the    interest  of 
children  in  these  types  of  life.     The  concreteness  of  such  life  is 
attractive ;    the  lions  in  the  path  of  the  cave-dweller  are  no 
allegorical  lions    of  the  mind,  but  real   beasts  to  overcome. 
The  struggles  of  the  savages  are  with  things  that  the  boy  can 
picture  :    real   enemies   with  bow  and  club,  real  hunger  and 
thirst.     The  Indian  is  troubled  with   no  chaotic  yearnings,  no 
hunger  and    thirst    after    righteousness ;    or,   if  so,  with    the 
simpler  forms  of  these  wants  as  they  are  known  to  childhood.  . 
This  absence  of  complexity  in  primitive  life  enables  the  child  1 
to  see  clearly  the  fundamental  relations  of  life  :  man  hunting,' 
fishing,  learning  simple  handicrafts  and  forming  into  families 
and  tribes    as   a   means    of  continuance    of  life    itself.     The 
primitive    virtues,    like    phj'sical    courage    and     self-restraint, 
which  are  known  to  the  child,   stand   clearly  revealed.     The 
crudity   and  cruelty   of  such   life    seldom   shock   him  :    he    is 
too    little    acquainted   with    pain   to    suffer  by  imagining    the 
physical  sufferings  that  belong  to  barbarous  life.     In  brief,  the  '^ 
life   of  the    savage  is  very  near  to  the  boy  of  the  twentieth; 
century.     Nor  is  this  sympathy  at  all  incompatibie  with   the     ' 
fact  that  the  fortunate  child  of  to-day  is  far  removed  from  the 


1  For  discussions  of  this  theory  see  the  Introduction  to  H.  M.  Scott's 
Or<;anic  Ediuation,  Boston,  1899,  and  the  Proceedings  of  the  Herbartian 
Society. 


94      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

primitive  savage :  do  not  cultivated  men  still  enjoy  the  battle 
scenes  of  Homer? 

4.  Still  nearer  to  the  child  is  the  fairy  story.  He  lives  in 
the  far  away ;  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  his  imagination 
Fainr  stories.  ^""§^  ^^""^  remote  constantly  into  his  daily  life.    The 

world  of  faery  is  his  |deal_j¥Qrld,  where  poetic  justice 
reigns  supreme,  where  good (\%)  punished \and  evil  ^rewarded, 
where  the  normal  aspirations  of  childhood  for  the  beautiful  are 
fully  realized,  where  there  are  no  troublous  limitations  and  con- 
tradictions as  in  real  life.  The  simplicity  of  the  fairy  realm 
lays  bare  to  him  principles  of  right  and  justice  that  remain 
clouded  in  the  real  world,  —  as,  indeed,  they  often  are  to  his 
elders.  In  the  fairy  world  he  escapes  from  this  sense  of 
perplexity  and  finds  Hfe  "as  it  ought  to  be."  Of  course  he 
knows  it  is  not  real ;  knows  that  it  is  make-believe.  But  it  is 
good  for  him  to  become  acquainted  with  perfection,  even  in 
make-believe.^ 

The  fairy  story  has  been  condemned  because  it  is  not 
"  true."  What  its  critics  probably  mean  is,  that  it  is  not  fact, 
or  not  true  to  all  the  phases  of  life.  But  to  exclude  all  but 
fact  is  practically  to  exclude  art  of  whatever  kind  ;  to  rob  the 
imagination  of  its  principal  source  of  pleasure  and  one  of  its 
best  forms  of  exercise  ;  to  deprive  the  child  of  a  treasury  of 
memories  that  is  in  fact  his  hereditary  right.  The  true 
grounds  of  objection  are  (i)  against  fairy  stories  which  do 
not  have  the  qualities  of  art,  and  (2)  against  the  employment 
of  fairy  stories  to  the  point  at  which  the  child  loses  his  interest 
in  real  life. 

5.  The    fable   is  also   near  to  the   life  of  the  child.     His 

animistic  tendencies  make  it  seem  quite  natural  to  him  that 

animals  should  talk  like  men.  His  interest  in 
Fables. 

animals  makes  the  homely  forms  of  the  fable  more 

real  to  him :    the   transition  from  speaking  animals  to    men 


^  See  Kenneth  Graham's  The  Goldeii^Age,  Chicago  and  London,  1895, 
and  other  recent  stories  of  child  fife,  for  a  presentation  of  the  child's 
view  of  life  coloured  by  that  of  the  adult. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      95 

and  women  seems  natural  and  easy.  The  fable  is  one  of  the 
oldest  forms  of  teaching.  Its  origin  is  in  the  far  East ; 
and  its  ethics  are  of  the  primitive  type,  sometimes  of  a 
type  which  the  finer  feeling  of  to-day  rejects.  Its  brevity, 
its  unity,  and  its  simplicity  of  style  make  it  easy  to  read. 
Like  the  nonsense  rhyme  and  the  fairy  story,  it  is  part  of 
the  literary  possessions  of  the  race,  recurs  again  and  again 
in  literary  and  common  allusion,  and  is  thus  one  of  the 
links  between  the  primary  school  and  the  later  intellectual 
life. 

One  notable  objection  has  been  made  to  the  fable  for  school 
purposes.  Professor  Felix  Adler  has  pointed  out  ^  that  many 
of  the  fables,  particularly  those  collected  under  Ethics  of 
the  name  of  /Esop,  reflect  a  despotic  civilization,  the  Fable, 
in  which  the  weak  are  crushed  by  the  strong,  and  cunning 
wins  over  better  qualities.  "  A  really  moral  spirit  is  wanting 
in  them  ;  the  moral  motives  are  not  appealed  to.  The  appeal 
throughout  is  to  the  bare  motive  of  self-interest."  This 
objection  seems  to  assume,  not  only  that  the  child  will  accept 
the  ethics  of  the  fable,  but  that  their  effect  will  be  permanent. 
It  is  at  least  doubtful  whether  he  will  see  in  the  fable  anything  i 
more  than  an  interesting  story.  If  he  does,  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  selfish  ethics  there  depicted  will  prove  so  attractive 
as  to  influence  him  deeply.  Such  an  objection  seems  indeed 
to  imply  too  much  confidence  in  the  permanence  of  the 
earliest^moral  teaching.  The  child's  first  morals  are  distincdy 
rudimentary.  He  grows  from  none  at  all  through  the  lower 
to  the  higher.  If  his  development  were  to  cease  at  the  age 
of  seven,  then  we  might  well  challenge  the  morals  of  the 
fable.  Again,  if  the  child  were  deeply  affected  by  the 
sense  of  injustice  and  cruelty  that  the  more  analytic  adult 
finds  in  these  stories  made  under  an  old-world  despotism, 
are  they  therefore  to  be  excluded  ?  Is  it  good  that  all  his 
reading  should  represent  conditions  ideally  perfect?  Must  he 
not  early  come  to  know  something  of  life   as  it  is?     Is  the 


1  Adler's  Moral  Instruction  for  tiildren,  Jfcw  Y»rk,  iSf  a,  pp.  81-94. 


96      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

school  to  continue  to  present  life  to  him  only  as  he  finds  it 
is  not? 

6.  The  myth,  like  the  fable,  is  an  old-world  product.* 
It  is  an  early  and  imaginative  people's  attempt  to  preserve 
j^j^  its  ideas    and   experiences.'^     It  falls  into  several 

broad  divisions:  (i)  the  attempt  to  explain  some 
natural  phenomenon,  like  the  rising  of  the  sun  or  the  return 
of  spring;  (2)  the  celebration  of  the  deeds  of  some  hero  and 
benefactor,  like  Hercules  or  Hiawatha;  (3)  the  records  of 
how  some  custom  or  invention  came  to  be;  (4)  some  knowl- 
edge or  inference  regarding  human  nature,  like  that  of  the 
fable.  This  classification  does  not  always  hold  in  a  clear-cut 
way  for  particular  myths;  but  these  are  the  elements  that 
myths  contain.  All  of  these  things  are  within  the  interests 
of  children.  Many  of  the  myths  tell  their  meaning  so  simply 
that  a  child  may  understand.  But  whether  he  understands 
or  not,  the  story  itself  is  so  concrete  and  so  interesting  that 
he  hears  it  with  delight.  It  is  not  essential  that  the  teacher 
should  insist  on  his  understanding  the  meaning.  Let  him  get 
the  story,  and  grasp  the  meaning  when  he  can.  The  story, 
after  all,  is  the  thing.  The  story  is  what  he  needs  to  know 
in  order  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  many  allusions 
to  the  myth  which  he  will  meet  in  his  later  reading. 

7.  Under  difierent  religious  and  social  conditions  the  Bible 
was  an  integral  part  of  early  instruction.  What  moral  gravity 
The  English      and  what  effects  upon  the  imagination  it  wrought, 

^  ^'  we  know.     Modern  custom  has  neglected  it,  and 

modern  laws  have  sometimes  forbidden  it  in  the  schools.    The 
disuse  of  it  is  to  be  deplored  quite  as  much  as  the  abuse  of  it 


1  Every  observer  must  have  noted  that  myth-making  is  still  in 
progress  :  e.  g.,  the  Lincoln  myth.  The4}resent  discussion  refers  to  such 
myths  as  are  read  in  the  school,  like  the  Greek,  the  Teutonic,  and  the 
Indian  myth  in  Hiawatha. 

*  See  Fiske's  Myths  and  Myth-makers,  chapter  r,  Boston,  1891 ;  Lang's 
Custom  and  Myth,  New  York  ;  and  Pater's  Greek  Studies  (Dionysus,  and 
Demeter   and   Persephone)  New  York,  1895,  and  chapters  16  and  17, 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION      99 

teachers  should  so  long  have  overlooked  the  obvious  source  of 
the  difficulty,  failing  to  see  that  the  child  at  first  tends  to  make 
that  combination  of  sounds  which  he  actually  hears,  is  one  of 
the  marvels  of  educational  history;  a  marvel  surpassed  only 
by  the  fact  that  nearly  four  centuries  after  the  needless  subtlety 
of  the  method  was  pointed  out  by  Ickelsamer,^  teachers  should 
occasionally  take  it  up  just  as  it  was  when  he  showed  its  error 
in  principle. 

The  particular  service  rendered  by  Ickelsamer  was  to  show 
that  the  difference  between  the  sounds  and  the  names  of  the 
letters  offered  a  difficulty  to  beginners,  and  to  icteisamer's 
recommend  that  at  first  the  sound  of  the  letter  Method, 
instera  of  its  name  be  used.  He  separated  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  into  classes  distinguished  by  the  position  of  the  vocal 
organs,  and  taught  first  those  that,  like  o  and  a,  were  simple 
and  distinctive.  He  suggested  mnemonic  associations,  as,  for 
example,  a  is  the  sound  made  first  in  saying  axe,  o  the  sound 
that  the  driver  uses  to  stop  his  horses,  etc.  The  sounds  of 
words  and  the  letters  representing  those  sounds  were  to  be 
learned  side  by  side.  There  was  to  be  practice  in  speaking 
the  words,  and  certainty  that  the  thing  read  was  understood. 
In  analyzing  a  word  into  its  sound  elements,  he  would  give  to 
the  child  an  image  not  only  of  the  written  or  printed  letter, 
but  also  of  the  object  or  animal  which  could  suggest  the  sound 
of  each  letter.  For  example,  if  the  word  M'drz  (March)  was 
to  be  learned,  the  pupil  first  analyzed  the  word  into  its  soundsr 
M,  that  of  the  cow  beginning  to  low,  a  the  sound  made  by  the 
goose,  r  the  sound  of  the  snarling  dog,  and  z  the  twittering  of 
the  sparrow.  Then,  lest  the  mnemonic  device  be  not  vivid 
enough,  the  pupil  would  poiiit  out,  among  a  collection  of 
pictures  on  a  chart,  the  cow,  the  goose,  the  dog,  and  the  spar- 
row !  If  this  naive  belief  in  mere  method  provokes  a  smile, 
we  should  remember  that  the  principle  from  which  he  worked 
was  sound,  and  that  Ickelsamer  not  only  was  two  hundred 
years  or  more  ahead  of  his  time  in  his  wiser  recommendations 


^  His  book  for  beginners  was  issued  at  Marburg  in  1534. 


96      ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

school  to  continue  to  present  life  to  him  only  as  he  finds  it 
is  not? 

6.  The  myth,  like  the  fable,  is  an  old-world  product.^ 
It  is  an  early  and   imaginative  people's  attempt  to  preserve 

its  ideas  and  experiences.^  It  falls  into  several 
broad  divisions:  (i)  the  attempt  to  explain  some 
natural  phenomenon,  like  the  rising  of  the  sun  or  the  return 
of  spring;  (2)  the  celebration  of  the  deeds  of  some  hero  and 
benefactor,  like  Hercules  or  Hiawatha;  (3)  the  records  of 
how  some  custom  or  invention  came  to  be;  (4)  some  knowl- 
edge or  inference  regarding  human  nature,  like  that  of  the 
fable.  This  classification  does  not  always  hold  in  a  clear-cut 
way  for  particular  myths ;  but  these  are  the  elements  that 
myths  contain.  All  of  these  things  are  within  the  interests 
of  children.  Many  of  the  myths  tell  their  meaning  so  simply 
that  a  child  may  understand.  But  whether  he  understands 
or  not,  the  story  itself  is  so  concrete  and  so  interesting  that 
he  hears  it  with  delight.  It  is  not  essential  that  the  teacher 
should  insist  on  his  understanding  the  meaning.  Let  him  get 
the  story,  and  grasp  the  meaning  when  he  can.  The  story, 
after  all,  is  the  thing.  The  story  is  what  he  needs  to  know 
in  order  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  many  allusions 
to  the  myth  which  he  will  meet  in  his  later  reading. 

7.  Under  different  religious  and  social  conditions  the  Bible 
was  an  integral  part  of  early  instruction.  What  moral  gravity 
The  English  and  what  effects  upon  the  imagination  it  wrought, 
^^''^^"  we  know.  Modern  custom  has  neglected  it,  and 
modern  laws  have  sometimes  forbidden  it  in  the  schools.  The 
disuse  of  it  is  to  be  deplored  quite  as  much  as  the  abuse  of  it 


1  Every  observer  must  have  noted  that  myth-making  is  still  in 
progress  :  e.  g.,  the  Lincoln  myth.  The  43resent  discussion  refers  to  such 
myths  as  are  read  in  the  school,  like  the  Greek,  the  Tetttonic,  and  the 
Indian  myth  in  Hiawatha. 

*  See  Fiske's  Myths  and  Myth-makers,  chapter  i,  Boston,  1891 ;  Lang's 
Custom  and  Myth,  New  York  ;  and  Pater's  Greek  Studies  (Dionysus,  and 
Demeter   and   Persephone)  New  York,  1895,  and  chapters  16  and  17, 

T>o.-t    T     ,,*    O,.^*,.'..      rr:    .  .-   ,^ 


EXGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATIOX      99 

teachers  should  so  long  have  overlooked  the  obvious  source  of 
the  difficulty,  failing  to  see  that  the  child  at  first  tends  to  make 
that  combination  of  sounds  which  he  actually  hears,  is  one  of 
the  marvels  of  educational  history ;  a  marvel  surpassed  only 
by  the  fact  that  nearly  four  centuries  after  the  needless  subtlety 
of  the  method  was  pointed  out  by  Ickelsamer/  teachers  should 
occasionally  take  it  up  just  as  it  was  when  he  showed  its  error 
in  principle. 

The  particular  service  rendered  by  Ickelsamer  was  to  show 
that  the  difference  between  the  sounds  and  the  names  of  the 
letters  offered  a  difficulty  to  beginners,  and  to  ickeisamer's 
recommend  that  at  first  the  sound  of  the  letter  Method. 
inste:f5  of  its  name  be  used.  He  separated  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  into  classes  distinguished  by  the  position  of  the  vocal 
organs,  and  taught  first  those  that,  like  0  and  a,  were  simple 
and  distinctive.  He  suggested  mnemonic  associations,  as,  for 
example,  a  is  the  sound  made  first  in  saying  axe,  0  the  sound 
that  the  driver  uses  to  stop  his  horses,  etc.  The  sounds  of 
words  and  the  letters  representing  those  sounds  were  to  be 
learned  side  by  side.  There  was  to  be  practice  in  speaking 
the  words,  and  certainty  that  the  thing  read  was  understood. 
In  analyzing  a  word  into  its  sound  elements,  he  would  give  to 
the  child  an  image  not  only  of  the  written  or  printed  letter, 
but  also  of  the  object  or  animal  which  could  suggest  the  sound 
of  each  letter.  For  example,  if  the  word  Mdrz  (March)  was 
to  be  learned,  the  pupil  first  analyzed  the  word  into  its  sounds  r 
M,  that  of  the  cow  beginning  to  low,  a  the  sound  made  by  the 
goose,  r  the  sound  of  the  snarling  dog,  and  z  the  twittering  of 
the  sparrow.  Then,  lest  the  mnemonic  device  be  not  vivid 
enough,  the  pupil  would  point  out,  among  a  collection  of 
pictures  on  a  chart,  the  cow,  the  goose,  the  dog,  and  the  spar- 
row !  If  this  naive  belief  in  mere  method  provokes  a  smile, 
we  should  remember  that  the  principle  from  which  he  worked 
was  sound,  and  that  Ickelsamer  not  only  was  two  hundred 
years  or  more  ahead  of  his  time  in  his  wiser  recommendations 


^  His  book  for  beginners  was  issued  at  Marburg  in  1534. 


lOO    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

regarding  the  teaching  of  reading,  but  also  that  he  published  a 
grammar  whose  protest  against  the  Latinization  of  German 
grammar,  whose  disbelief  in  the  efficacy  of  "conjugating" 
and  "declining"  as  a  means  of  learning  correct  speech,  and 
whose  plea  for  the  dignity  and  value  of  the  vernacular  would 
all  find  favour  among  modern  scholars. 

Other  beginners'  books  —  two  within  the  same  decade  — 
advocated  the  same  methods.  But  they  were  unable  to  bring 
The  Play  Eie-  ^^o''*  ^"7  extensive  reform  in  the  prevailing  usage. 
ment :  Buno.  guno,^  who  anticipated  Basedow's  method  of  giv- 
ing the  children  rewards  for  answering  rightly,  thought  that 
the  letters  were  in  themselves  fearful  things  for  the  children, 
and  advised  that  they  should  be  associated  in  the  minds  of  the 
learners  with  some  natural  object,  which  should  be  drawn  to 
resemble,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  form  of  the  letter.  Thus 
b  was  represented  by  a  strawberry,  u  by  the  horns  of  an  owl, 
A  by  a  hen.  In  teaching  the  letters  he  used  a  story  of  a  some- 
what crude  type  about  the  stupid  Hans  who  was  learning  to 
read,  and  on  this  strung  incidents  and  objects  suggesting  the 
letters.  When  the  letters  were  thus  learned,  they  were  com- 
bined into  syllables,  much  in  the  fashion  of  the  a-b-abs  of  the 
books  of  a  generation  ago.  Finally,  the  pupils  were  put  to 
reading  whole  sentences. 

Within  the  hundred  years  following  Buno's  work,  no  im- 
portant contribution  was  made  to  the  method  of  teaching 
reading.  Imitators  of  Buno  rang  changes  upon 
uponSoiuid:  his  method.  Basedow  (seepage  84)  sugar-coated 
the  old  letter-method.  Rousseau,  whose  influence 
extended  into  Germany,  advised  alleviating  the  task  by  post- 
poning it  and  arousing  interest.  The  next  important  advocates 
of  better  methods  were  Olivier,  Heinicke,  and  Pestalozzi,  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Olivier  insisted  that  the  sen- 
tences to  be  read  should  first  be  spoken  by  teacher  and  pupils, 
be  clearly  apprehended,  and  sharply  enunciated,  that  the 
organs  of  speech  might  also  be  exercised.     The  words  were 


1  Buno's  reading-book  was  issued  at  Dantzig  in  1650. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    \0\ 

then  divided  into  syllables,  and  the  syllables  into  vowels  and 
consonants.  The  consonants  were  so  pronounced  ?sto  ex- 
clude as  much  as  possible  the  breathing  which  links  a  vowel- 
effect  to  the  pure  consonant  sound.  Those  consonants  which 
preceded  a  vowel  or  consonant  were  given  with  the  obscure  e 
following,  those  which  followed  a  vowel  with  the  obscure  e  pre- 
ceding. Combinations  of  consonants  were  sounded  together, 
sch  in  Fleisch,  for  example,  being  given  as  esh.  When  the 
pupils  had  learned  thus  to  analyze  words  into  their  elementary 
sounds,  the  letters  were  taught.  The  consonants  were  classified 
and  named  according  to  the  speech-organs  used  in  enunciating 
them.  Illustrated  charts  recalled  the  letter,  not  by  the  initial 
but  by  the  final  consonant  sound  :  a  tulip  recalled  the  Ip  in 
Tulpe.  The  final  syllables  were  printed  in  red  letters.  When 
the  pupils  had  learned  to  read  written  syllables  and  words,  the 
master  gave  them  the  book  and  taught  them  word  by  word 
and  sentence  by  sentence  that  which  they  had  already 
thoroughly  learned.  Contemporary  with  Olivier's  was  the 
work  of  Heinicke.  His  efficiency  in  the  cause  of  sound  educa- 
tion was  due  largely  to  his  power  of  ridicule  and  invective 
against  the  folly  and  stupidity  of  the  unnatural  letter-method. 
He  recommended  that  the  consonants,  the  main  cause  of  the 
trouble,  be  sounded  only  in  connection  with  the  vowels,  that 
is,  in  syllables. 

To  the  same  period  belongs  the  work  of  Pestalozzi.  His 
general  influence  on  modern  education  has  been  dwelt  upon 
overmuch,  and  has  no  special  bearing  upon  the  pestalozzl's 
subject  of  the  present  chapter.  In  his  instruction  "^o^k. 
in  the  elements  of  reading,  he  dwelt  with  special  emphasis 
upon  the  importance  of  arousing  interest  and  self-activity, 
of  cultivating  the  ear  in  home  and  school  by  letting  the 
child  hear  right  speech  clearly  enunciated,  and  of  mak- 
ing the  child  adept  in  reading  and  making  combinations 
of  letters  into  syllables.  Not  the  names  of  the  letters, 
but  their  sounds,  singly  and  in  combinations,  were  to 
be  learned.  A  typical  page  from  his  primer  will  show  his 
method :  — 


;  02     ENQlI^i^  IN  ELEMENT  A  RY  ED  UCA  TION 
The  word  gebadet  is  to  be  developed.     The  teacher  gives, 

Answer  g. 

"       geb. 


g- 

'■■'■"'•     ' 

'   "What 

is 

it? 

e 

is 

added 

b 

a 

d 

e 

t 

"       gebad. 
"       gebade. 
"       gebadet. 

The  lack  of  ideas  in  such  a  lesson,  and  the  ease  with  which 
it  could  become  merely  formal  and  mechanical,  are  obvious. 
Pestalozzi  himself  and  some  of  his  admirers  later  became 
doubtful  of  its  wisdom.  Although  Pestalozzi  attempted  to 
formulate  scientific  principles  for  his  method,  beginning  with 
the  training  of  the  organs  of  speech,  and  passing  to  the  study 
of  words  and  then  of  connected  discourse,  it  cannot  be  seen 
that  his  contributions  to  this  particular  phase  of  education  were 
of  any  higher  value  than  those  of  his  contemporaries,  or, 
indeed,  equal  to  his  wisdom  regarding  the  more  general 
problems  of  education. 

Among  the  immediate  successors  of  Pestalozzi,  and  in  the 

list  of  those  to  whose  efforts  were  due  the  establishment  of 

modern    methods,    was    Heinrich    Stephani.     His 
Stephanl.  i      i       i  •  i  ■       i   •     i     •  , 

method,  which  consisted  m  laying  stress  upon  the 

oral  work,  in  using  the  sounds  of  the  letters  and  in  advancing 
by  easy  and  simple  combinations  to  the  reading,  was  adopted 
by  the  Prussian  Minister  of  Education  in  1841.  The  victory 
of  the  sound-method  over  the  letter-method  was  now  estab- 
lished, in  spite  of  the  extravagance  of  views  of  some  of  its 
advocates,  whose  elaborate  classification  of  the  sounds  of  the 
alphabet  into  minute  phonetic  divisions,  with  long  compound 
names  to  be  learned  by  the  children,  resembled  the  fetich  of 
method  set  up  by  Ickelsamer,  Buno,  and  others. 

The  "  write-read  method  "  (Schreiblese-Methode),  so-called, 
is  old.      The  Greeks  and  Romans  made  use  of  it:  Quintilian^ 


1  De  Orator e,  I.  27. 


EAGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     103 

and  Plato  ^  assume  it  as  the  usual  thing.     Cumenius  and  Ra- 

tichius  advocated  it  in  the  seventeenth  century.     It  was  argued 

pro  and  con  in  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 

^  °  J      .  1    1    T^^     Wrlte- 

century.      Its  opponents  asserted  that  it  donuled   Read 

-'  ^'  .  ,   ,  Method." 

the  difficulty  of  learning  to  read  by  requiring  two 

things  to  be  learned  at  once ;  its  supporters,  that  the  in- 
terest and  self-activity  of  the  child  made  the  learning  of  each 
process  easier.  The  child's  pleasure  in  himself  making  the  same 
words  which  he  has  heard  and  read,  the  necessarily  closer 
attention  to  the  form  and  order  of  the  letters,  and  the  increasing 
sense  of  power  in  the  lessons,  are  obvious  advantages  of  the 
method.  Its  adoption  was  due  mainly  to  the  vigorous  defence 
of  Grafer  and  others  in  the  early  nineteenth  century.  Its 
use  is  now  general  in  Germany,  France,  England,  and  the 
United  States. 

The  analytic-synthetic  method  of  teaching  reading,  though 
it  had  its  roots  in  part  in  the  work  of  earlier  centuries,  belongs 
in  its  clear  and  definite  form  to  the  early  nineteenth  ^^^  Analytic 

century.    It  was  the  invention  of  a  Frenchman,  Jaco-   Method: 
-'  Jacotot. 

tot,  and  was  introduced  into  Germany  by  Gedike. 

Jacotot's  own  accounts  of  his  method  ^  were  not  clear  or  satis- 
factory. He  seems  not  to  have  had  the  power  of  presenting 
his  ideas  in  clear  and  logical  form,  to  have  been  given  to 
^oracular  deliveries  such  as  "All  is  in  all,"  and  "  Nothing  is  in 
^nothing,"  and  to  have  held  such  Utopian  beliefs  as  that  all 
persons  have  like  abilities.  In  his  teaching,  however,  he  seems 
to  have  shown  rare  ability  in  applying  fundamental  principles. 
He  asserts  that  he  does  not  oppose  nature,  but  imitates  her. 
For  the  mind,  he  says,  proceeds  from  the  whole  to  its  parts. 
Children  learn  the  songs,  and  then  the  musical  notes ;  the 
plant,  and  then  the  stamens  ;  why  then  not  the  word  and  the 
sentence,  and  then  the  letters?  Why  not  proceed  here  from 
the  whole  to  the  parts,  from  the  known  to  the  unknown? 


1  Laws,  VII.  818. 

-  See  Efiseignement  universel,  Langiie  maternelle,  par.  J,  J.  Jacotot, 
1818. 


104     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  ■ 

In  his  teaching  he  would  t^in  with  Fdnelon's  Telemaque, 
and  have  the  children  learn  the  first  sentence,  repeating  it 
after  the  teacher,  word  by  word,  until  the  whole  had  been 
thoroughly  learned.     Thus 

Calypso 

Calypso  ne 

Calypso  ne  pouvait 

Calypso  ne  pouvait  se 

Calypso  ne  pouvait  se  consoler,  etc., 

until  her  inconsolability  over  the  loss  of  her  hero  had  been 
thorouo^nly  established.  The  sentence  was  then  written  by 
the  children  from  the  copy.  The  teacher  would  go  slowly, 
that  the  child  might  learn  all  thoroughly.  The  second  lesson 
began  with  a  review  of  this  first  sentence,  and  proceeded  to 
the  second.  In  all  succeeding  tessons  the  children  were  to 
reproduce  orally  and  in  writing  what  they  had  learned  before. 
After  ten  lessons  or  more,  the  teacher  would  question  them 
upon  the  content  of  what  they  had  read.  Throughout  the 
series  the  object  was  to  have  the  whole  story  reproduced  with- 
out error  by  the  children.  If  there  was  too  much  insistence 
upon  memory,  there  was,  at  any  rate,  a  justifiable  emphasis 
upon  the  story  as  a  starting-point. 

The  word-image  and  the  thought  are  here  seen  to  be  of^ 
first  importance.  It  is  easily  seen,  too,  that  the  child's  powers  ' 
of  analysis,  whereby  he  can  arrive  at  the  sounds  of  the  letters  and 
so  become  self-helpful,  are  trained  only  incidentally,  if  at  all. 
The  supreme  merit  in  the  system  is  that  it  dtals  first  with  ideas 
appreciable  by  the  chiid  and  impresses  upon  his  memory  the 
image  of  the  word.  Letz'sam  presented  the  theories  of  Jacotot 
in  clear  form  in  a  series  of  writings,  simplified  and  modified 
them  so  as  to  retain  only  their  good  features,  united  them  with 
other  sound  theories  in  use  in  Germany,  and  so  demonstrated 
their  excellence  that  they  were  adopted  by  law  in  Breslau 
in  1846.1 


1  For  a  full  account  of  present  methods,  see  Kehr,  Praxis  der  Volksschule. 


•     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     105 

With  the  work  of  Jacotot  and  its  betterment  at  the  hands 
of  its  German  advocates  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury we  reach  the  end  of  our  brief  historical  survey.  As  was 
said  above,  all  the  important  contributions  to  the  theory  of  the 
subject  are  included  within  the  scope  of  their  experiment  and 
inquiry.  Only  the  larger  features  of  the  movement  have  been 
sketched  here,  and  those  with  unsatisfactory  brevity.  Students 
of  the  problems  involved  are  referred  to  the  historical  sources 
given  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter. 

Even  a  brief  account  of  the  history  of  methods  must  take 

note  of  the  use  of  pictures  and  reading-machines.     According 

to  Kehr  ^  the  origin  of  the  pictured  primers  is  to 

Picttii'cs 
be  traced  to  the  pictured  Bibles  of  the  cloister. 

The  pictured  primer  existed  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  a  number  are  known  to  have  been  issued  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  best  known  of  the  early  illustrated  school  books 
is,  however,  the  Orbis  Pictus  of  Comenius,  issued  in  1657. 
Though  not  the  first,  as  is  often  said,  this  book  of  Comenius 
is  from  its  wide  influence  to  be  regarded  "  as  the  real  father 
of  all  picture  books  for  children."  The  most  common  use  of 
pictures  was,  as  in  the  work  of  Comenius,  to  represent  some 
creature  known  to  the  child,  whose  cry  expressed  or  resembled 
some  sound  of  the  alphabet,  the  letter  and  the  syllable  accom- 
panying the  picture ;  or  to  represent  the /<?;'/«  of  the  letter,  as, 
for  example,  the  common  fashion  of  representing  the  German 
a  by  an  eel.  Sometimes  the  pictures  and  letters  were  accom- 
panied by  little  verses  —  the  method  adopted  in  The  New 
Englaitd  Primer..  Writers  of  a  more  inventive  turn  of  mind 
made  up  stories  or  comparisons  of  the  letters  with  known 
objects,  to  deepen  the  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  child. 
In  the  nineteenth  century  pictures  came  to  be  used  to  repre- 
sent the  object  upon  which  the  child's  attention  was  to  be 
fixed,  and  which  was  to  be  made  the  subject  of  the  lesson  in 
language. 

The  reading-boxes,  or  reading-machines,  were  devices  to 


1  Geschichie  des  Lese-9»tirrifitt,  p.  up. 


lo6     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

secure  the  interest  and  self- activity  of  the  pupils  in  learning 
to  read.  Their  essential  elements  were  generally  a  lot  of 
Readin?-  movable  blocks  or   dice  on  which  were   stamped 

Machines.  ^j^^  letters  of  the  alphabet.  These  were  to  be  fitted 
into  a  framework  so  as  to  spell  syllables  and  words.  Some- 
times the  blocks  were  coloured,  oftener  plain.  Some  of  the 
machines  were  of  a  construction  so  elaborate  that  the  descrip- 
tions of  them  convey  but  a  vague  idea  to  the  lay  mind.  Read- 
ing-machines were  in  use  by  the  philanthropinists  and  still 
continue  to  be  made  and  used.  The  nursery  alphabet-blocks 
of  the  present  day  are  in  principle  like  the  simpler  reading- 
machines. 

In  the  foregoing  historical  sketch  a]Lmost  all  the  priniclpal 
elements  now  included  in  the  best  plans  for  the  primary  work 
in  reading  are  represented.  The  various  devices 
Summary.  fo^  relieving  the  wojk  of  its  dnlnrss  or  its  ferror 
appear  in  Ickelsamer,  Buno.  and  Basedow ;  the  onT|2l2asis  upon 
the  sound  rather  than  the  name  of  the  letter  nnpenrs  in  Ick- 


elsamer, Buno,  and  Pestalozzi :  the  importance  of  beginning 
with  an  idea  and  proceeding  by  analysis  to  the  sounds  of  j.he 
syllables  njnj  Ipi-tprg  wn';  qhmvn  by  Jncotnt ;  the  increased  in- 
terest and  self-activity  gained  by  early  combining  the  reading 
and  the  writing,  the  desirability  of  having  simple  and. interest- 
in  g~nTarerial.  and  the  help  afforded  by  pictures,  hud  all  become 
accepted  principles  by  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

There  is,  therefore,  little  that  is  new  or  distinctive  in 
modern  methods,  except  a  judicious  blending  of  the  various 
principles  and  devices  of  earlier  teachers.  "The  growing 
agreement  that  there  is  no  one  and  only  orthodox  way  of 
teaching  and  learning  this  greatest  and  hardest  of  all  the  arts, 
in  which  ear,  mouth,  eye,  and  hand  must  each  in  turn  train 
the  others  to  automatic  perfection  ...  is  a  great  gain,  and 
seems  now  secure."  ^  Indeed  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
definite  method  or  system  could  be  devised  which  would  not 
become    harmful,    by   growing   stiff    and    mechanical.     It    is 


ENGLISH  IX  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    10/ 

principally  in  the  recognition  of  the  participation  of  ear,  mouth, 

eye,  and  hand  in  the  work,  of  the  necessity  of  beginning  with 

wholes  instead  of  parts,  and  of  emphasizing  the  sounds  at  the 

initial  stages  of  the  instruction,  that  modern  primary  work  has 

made  its  greatest  advances. 

The  first  steps  in  learning  to  read   are   difficult.     In  oral 

language  there  is  often  a  resemblance  between  sound  and  idea. 

But  in  written  language  the  signs  are  purely  arbi- 

A  ^-        1       'pu         •  1-1  Difficulties 

trary  and  conventional,      ihere  is  no  logical  reason    of  Learning 

why  the  written   English  word  which  is  to  recall 

the  concept  should  appear  in  its  present  form  rather  than  in  the 

Greek  or  any  other  foreign  alphabet  or  in  the  Morse  code.     The 

beginner  must  learn  it  in  whatever  form  he  happens  to  find  it. 

Tht^  prp*" '"  f"  iij^gi^  involved  in* separating  the  word  into 

its  component  parts,  both  as  letters  and  as  sounds,  is  difficult. 

Such  a  word,  for  example,  as    blackboard,  consists   of  eight 

component  parts  as  sound,  and  ten  letters.     The  pupil  must 

learn  not  only  to  recognize  the  word  in  print  and  script,  and 

to  know  what  thing  it  recalls,  but  must  know  it  as  made  up  of 

these  elements  of  sound  and  these  letters.     In  English,  the 

difficulty  is  still  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  language 

is  imperfectly  phonetic.     The  letter  g  has  one  sound  in  go,  and 

another  in  gen  tie ;   c  is  k  in  cat,  and  s  in  city.     The  selection 

of  vowels  in  modern  English  has  slight  relation  to  the  sounds 

represented.     A  does  duty  for  at  least  five  sounds,     /appears 

with  a  range  of  too  great  variety :    as  in  machijie,  fit,  wine, 

bird.      Ough  is  distracting  :  though,  thought,  through,  t07igh,  and 

plough  form  a  group  arbitrary  and  unreasonable   enough    for 

tears.     Then  there  are  the  "^ilent"   letters,  —  not   unwisely 

printed  in  italics  in  certain  books  of  a  few  decades  ago.     Not 

without  cause  has  been  the  debate  over  the  best  ways  to  teach 

children  of  tender  years  the  art  of  reading  English. 

The  alphabetical  method  once  universal  is  now  seldom  used. 

Under  this  system  the  child  began   with    the    alphabet,  and 

learned  the  letters   by  their   names.     Now,  it    is  ^  AiBhabet 

obvious  enough,  as  was  pointed  out  by  Ickelsamer,    ^letiod. 

that  these  names  do  not  spell  the  word.     But  the  pupil  passed, 


I    i 


/ 


I08     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

by  much  repetition,  through  his  a-b-abs  into  the  knowledge  of 
the  sound  intended  by  certain  combinations  of  letters.  Then 
through  various  collections  of  simple  words,  either  meaningless 
and  uninteresting,  or  didactic  and  equally  uninteresting,  the 
pupil  came  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  power  in  reading. 
Exceptions  were  wisely  treated  as  such,  and  as  things  to  be 
learned.  Much  drilling  in  oral  reading  and  oral  spelling  in- 
sured a  fair  knowledge  of  the  form  of  the  words,  but  at  such 
a  price  of  time  and  energy  as  a  modern  school  cannot  afford 
to  pay. 

In  the  agitation  of  "  methods  "  two  new  plans  arose  :  the 
"  word  method  "  and  the  "  sentence  method."  The  advocates 
"Word  ^^  each    defended    their  system  most  vigorously, 

"'s^entence"*^  At  bottom  the  two  are  not  so  different  in  principle 
Method."  as  might  seem,  and  are  certainly  not  different 
enough  to  account  for  the  fervour  of  the  debates  they  have 
provoked.  Each  begins  from  a  larger  unit  than  the  alphabetic 
sounds,  and  with  something  that  can  convey  an  idea  to  the 
child.  The  "  word  method  "  begins,  as  its  name  implies,  by 
having  the  child  learn  the  zvord,  and,  when  a  suf^cient  number 
of  words  can  be  recognized,  learn  the  elements  of  the  word, 
and  words  already  combined  into  sentences.  The  "  sentence 
method  "  begins  with  the  sentence  and  leads  the  pupil  to 
identify  words,  and  gradually  to  know  the  letters  and  their 
sounds.  Each  assumes  —  and  rightly  —  that  the  child  should 
start  from  an  idea  expressed  in  type  or  script,  and  come  by 
process  of  analysis  to  the  knowledge  of  the  elements,  before 
attempting  to  combine  minute  and  arbitrary  elements  into  a 
known  word.  Each  defers  the  learning  of  the  names  of  the 
letters  until  the  child  has  learned  to  read.  The  dispute  about 
the  merits  of  the  respective  systems  is  about  over,  or  heard 
only  as  echoes  in  certain  regions  remote  from  the  centres  of 
educational  activity. 

Out  of  the  controversies  in  educational  periodicals  and 
teachers'  institutes,  and  out  of  the  experiments  in  the  school- 
room, there  has  grown  up  a  sort  of  consensus  about  the  be- 
ginnings in  teaching  reading.     A  few  general  principles,  sanely 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     IO9 

and  tactfully  applied,  have  now  taken  the  place  of  elaborate 
systems,  and  with  better  results. 

'The  wise  teacher  knows  that  she  must  first  accomplish 
two  things  with  her  primary  class:  (i)  learn  something  of 
the  range  of  their  interests  and  ideas  ;  (2)  get  them  _.  _. 
into  a  responsive  attitude  towards  her,  "  Every  steps, 
child  who  enters  the  school-room  .  ,  .  brings  with  him, 
not  an  empty  head,  but  a  mind  stored  with  the  memories  of 
varied  experiences.  .  .  .  What  he  has  seen  and  heard,  liked 
and  desired,  determines  the  net  result  of  our  teaching.  For 
nothing  which  we  attempt  to  teach  finds  lodgment  in  the  child 
mind  unless  it  is  linked  with  some  past  experience  and  awakens 
actual  interest."  ^  Hence  the  desirability  of  beginning  with 
an  interesting  object,  picture,  or  story,  and  engaging  the  chil- 
dren in  conversation  about  the  thing,  seen  or  heard.  When 
the  teacher  has  thus  elicited  remarks  from  the  children,  some 
of  these  remarks  may  be  written  upon  the  board,  and  the 
children  be  told  the  meaning  of  each  sentence.  The  sen- 
tences should  contain  some  of  the  more  important  words 
several  times.  Suppose  a  story  has  been  told  of  a  dog.  Talk 
about  dogs  could  bring  out  something  like  the  following : 

My  dog  can  bark. 
My  dog  can  bite. 
My  dog  eats  meat. 
My  dog  is  black. 

The  teacher  could  point  to  each  word  as  she  read  the  sen- 
tences. The  repeated  word  dog  would  soon  be  recognized, 
and  the  children  required  to  observe  it  carefully.  Similar 
exercises,  continued  several  times  a  day,  would  soon  make 
the  children  familiar  with  a  number  of  simple  words,  and  so 
afford  a  basis  for  the  next  step  in  the  instruction. 

The  more  definite  work  of  teaching   reading   now  begins  : 
resolution  of  the  words   into  their  phonetic  elements.     Sup- 


^  Reading,  How  to  Teach  It,  by  Sarah  Louise  Arnold. 


no    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

pose  the  children  have  come  to  recognize  bat,  cat,  rat,  and  the 
new  word  mat  is  seen.     The  sound  of  at  is  known  from  the 

other  words ;  the  teacher  will  then  call  upon  them 
Learning:  ,  ,..,..  ,  .       , 

the  Phonetic  to  observe  the  similarity  of  sound  in  those  words 
Elements.  ,     ,        ....         .   .  ...  ^, 

and  the  similarity  of  form  in  the  last  part.     The 

children,  we  will  assume,  have  also  learned  in  the  same  way 
the  sound  of  m,  as  in  ;//;•,  moon,  man,  etc.  They  will  then  be 
called  upon  to  give,  first  the  sound  of  m,  and  then  the  sound 
of  at,  in  as  close  succession  as  possible,  and  so  get  the  sound 
of  mat.  This  is  a  definite  accomplishment  for  them,  by  the 
so-called  "  analytic-synthetic  "  method.  The  analysis  has  been 
made  in  getting  a  perception  of  the  sound-values  of  the 
letters  in  the  familiar  words,  and  the  synthesis  in  recombining 
these  sounds  into  a  new  word.  The  pupil  is  thrs  put  into 
possession  of  an  instrument  that  he  can  use  to  help  himself. 
Every  sound  or  combination  of  sounds  that  he  learns  is  not 
only  so  much  clear  gain  in  itself,  but  becomes  a  key  to  other 
words.  Thus  rack,  back,  lack,  etc.,  become  a  key  to  crack, 
black,  and  other  words  similarly  built.^  Longer  combinations 
of  sounds  or  letters  like  ing,  ight,  oard,  etc.,  may  be  intro- 
duced as  the  need  arises. 

In  the  use  of  this  method  it  is  evident   that  the  teacher 
must   keep  track  of  the  words  already  learned  by  the  chil- 

Importance  '^^^"'  ^'^'^'^  ^^""^  ™^y  S^^^  ^^^  helpful  suggestion 
of  Driu.  whenever  needed.     There  must  be  frequent  drill 

in  the  recognition  of 'the  words,  that  they  may  be  exactly  and 
readily  known,  and  be  of  real  service  in  helping  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  new  words.  There  must  be  much  drill  in  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  phonograms  into  their  essential  sounds  :  thus  old 
would  be  resolved  into  the  sounds  o-l-d,  and  the  sounds  recom- 
bined  into  the  sound  of  the  whole  syllable. 

It  need  n(>t  be  feared  that  the  work  will  be  uninteresting. 
Children  have  a  natural  interest  in  words  and  sounds.     The 


1  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  method,  see  an  article  by  E.  G.  Ward 
in  the  New  York  Teachers'  Monograph,  I.  No  3,  November,  1898, 
on  "  The  Rational  Method  in  Reading."  ,.. 


* 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     III 

imitative  tendencies,  so  prominent  in  the  mental  life  of  children, 
can  be  used  with  great  effect.  The  mere  imitation  of  sounds, 
independent  of  their  meaning,  the  fondness  for 
strange,  long,  or  musical  words,  the  pleasure  in 
gibberish  and  nonsense  rhymes,  which  most  children  show, 
testify  not  only  to  their  delight  in  imitation,  but  to  their  pleas- 
ure in  making  sounds  for  the  mere  sake  of  the  sounds.  They 
find  satisfaction  also  in  mere  activity.  The  teacher  will  there- 
fore find  this  tendency  a  constant  resource  in  the  early  stages 
of  language  teaching,  and  will  make  use  of  it  constantly  in 
establishing  an  easy  and  indelible  association  between  the 
written  symbol  and  the  sound.  When  this  delight  in  mere 
activity  is  reinforced  by  a  sense  of  achievement  over  difficulties, 
and  by  giving  stuff  to  read  that  has  some  relation  to  their  ex- 
periences or  some  charm  for  their  imaginations,  their  interest 
can  easily  be  held  to  the  work. 

One  especial  caution  may  be  suggested  to  the  young  teacher. 
Children  often  read  from  their  books  without  recognizing 
the  individual  words.  They  remember  the  stories  verbatim. 
EvTry  pupil  in  the  class  should  frequently  be  tested  by  words, 
old  and  new,  written  on  the  blackboard.  The  teacher  should 
assure  herself  that  the  children  are  not  only  able  to  recognize 
the  words,  but  able  to  resolve  them  into  their  sound  elements. 
By  the  end  of  the  first  year,  or  in  the  early  months  of  the 
second  year,  the  drill  in  phonetics  should  be  a  regular  part  of 
the  daily  work,  and  should  be  continued  until  the  pupils  have 
mastered  it  as  a  working  method. 

But  English  is  only  a  partially  phonetic  language.  It 
abounds  in  anomalies  of  spelling.  Its  system  of  vowel  classi- 
fication is  wrong.  And,  as  in  other  languages,  the  irregularities 
are  most  frequent  in  precisely  those  words  which  are  most 
used.  For  these  difficulties  there  is  but  one  pedagogic  rule. 
Exceptional  usages,  variations  from  the  norm,  and  all  isolated 
fleets  must  be  learned  as  such.^  Rules  are  at  first  obviously  a 
useless  burden.     LMit  is  but  little  harder  to  learn  than  bite. 


^  Sweet,  Practical  Study  of  Lanj^ta^es,  New  York,  1900. 


112     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

The  child  remembers  it  as  a  fact ;  and  easily  associates  it  with 
other  words  of  the  same  sound-group,  as  anight,  right,  etc. 
Experience  has  shown  that  the  order  of  difficulty  in  form  is 
not  the  only  order —  perhaps  not  even  the  principal  order  — 
to  be  followed.  Many  of  the  simplest  and  most  common  ideas 
are  conveyed  in  words  whose  form  is  difficult ;  and  it  is  inex- 
pedient to  postpone  the  introduction  of  such  words  until  the 
pupil  has  mastered  most  of  the  words  of  simple  form..  More- 
over, the  word  of  unusual  form  is  thereby  easily  recognized. 
Such  are  the  auxiliaries,  might,  couid,  would,  and  should ; 
names  of  familiar  objects  and  ideas,  house,  police,  under- 
stand, etc. ;  names  of  persons  and  places.  It  is  more  impor- 
tant that  the  pupil  should  come  as  soon  as  possible  to  the 
power  of  reading  some  form  of  connected  discourse,  some- 
thing that  will  make  the  learning  of  all  these  arbitrary  symbols 
seem  a  reasonable  task,  and  that  will  provide  him  with  mate- 
rial for  thought.  The  timidity  over  words  that  are  merely 
"  big  "  is  now  seen  to  be  as  often  invented  by  their  elders  as 
felt  by  the  children.  To  the  sweetness  of  much  of  modern 
education  has  been  added  light.  Classes  in  the  second  grade, 
under  ordinary  conditions,  can  read  Hiawatha  without  fear  or 
stumbling.  Give  them  but  the  means  of  coming  at  the  sound 
of  the  word  by  using  their  knowledge  of  its  elements,  and  the 
big  word  is  exhilarating. rather  than  depressing. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  assumed  that  children  in  the  first 
years  of  school   either  hear  or   render  all  sounds  correctly. 

Putting  aside  all  considerations  of  dialectic  varia- 
Ear  and  the      tion,  influences  of  foreign  languages  heard  at  home, 

and  variations  from  the  norm  of  vocal  language  due 
to  defective  hearing  and  imperfections  in  the  organs  of  speech, 
there  is  still  a  considerable  difference  between  sounds  that  pass 
as  English  from  the  lips  of  children  and  those  from  cultivated 
adults.  Reference  is  not  made  here  to  the  accuracy  and 
range  of  the  vocabulary,  but  to  the  clearness  and  precision  of 
the  spoken  word.  A  quick  ear  will  detect  in  the  enunciation 
of  children  imperfectly  articulated  consonants,  and  vowels 
swerving  from  tlieir  proper  quality.     The  word  that  the  chil- 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     II3 

dren  speak  is  not  always  the  word  which  they  hear.  They 
may,  for  example,  hear  insists,  and  say  insiss,  without  being 
aware  of  the  difference.  The  present  writer  has  often  heard 
children  say  pont  when  they  thought  they  were  saying  point, 
drawr  for  draw,  Neiv  Yawk  for  Neiv  York,  etc.  Such  pronun- 
ciations are  often  due  to  dialectic  peculiarities  in  the  speech 
of  the  home.  But  in  most  cases  it  is  noticeable  that  the  pupil 
does  not  at  first  hear  the  true  sound,  even  when  it  is  given  in 
his  presence.  Sharp  and  clear-cut  enunciation,  not,  of  course, 
of  the  exaggerated  type  that  errs  by  making  obscure  vowels 
full  and  gives  to  speech  a  pedantic  preciseness  like  the  too 
rigid  separation  of  the  words  in  such  phrases  as  at  all,  don't 
you,  and  the  like,  but  clean-cut  pronunciation  of  the  language 
as  it  is,  should  be  a  daily  exercise  in  the  lower  grades.  Much 
of  the  difficulty  in  getting  control  of  the  phonetic  elements  of 
the  language  may  thus  be  overcome  ;  and  much  may  be  done 
to  remedy  the  blurred  and  obscure  enunciation  with  which 
Americans  are  justly  taxed  by  English  visitors. 

Where  there  is  the  influence  of  a  foreign  language  daily 
Ifeard  and  spoken  in  the  home,  or  of  dialectic  variations  heard 
at  home,  on  the  playground  and  perhaps  from  the  teacher 
also,  the  case  seems  almost  hopeless.  When  one  considers 
the  influence  in  our  large  cities  of  the  Teutonic  and  Slavonic 
quality  of  the  consonants,  and  the  persistence  of  nasal  twang 
or  flattened  vowels  in  communities  of  nearly  pure  American 
descent,  one  is  fain  to  accept  them  as  symptoms  of  that  flux 
and  growth  of  language  for  which  the  schoolmaster  has  no 
responsibility.-^ 

The  growing  use  of  print  as  a  means  of  communicating  ideas 
tends  to  make  us  forget  that  language  is  in  its  essence  as  well 
as  its  origin  oral,  a  thing  of  the  vocal  organs  and  the  ear. 
In  teaching  reading  we  are  teaching  the  art  of  quick  and  easy^ 


1  See  Rein's  Encyklopaedisches  Handbiich  der  Ptzdagogik,  article  on 
"  Mundart  in  der  Volksschule  ;  "  Brander  Matthews,  The  Parts  of  Speech, 
New  York,  1901 ;  A.  S.  Hill's  Oiu-  English,  New  York,  and  Kittredge 
and  Greenough,  Words  and  their  Ways  in  English  Speech,  New  York, 
1901. 


114    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

association  of  the  printed  or  written  form  with  the  auditory 
image  and  the  idea.  We  must  have  the  pupils  ultimately  reach 
The  Real  ^  ^^'§^  facility  in  passing  direct  from  the  crowd  of 

aTWng^for  symbols  on  the  page  to  the  ideas  they  suggest. 
the  Ear.  Good  reading  implies  not  merely  the  recognition  at 

a  glance  of  the  idea  for  which  the  word  stands,  but  that  sentences 
and  even  paragraphs  must  be  read  "  on  the  run."  But  in  the 
primary  grades  the  transition  from  printed  symbols  to  idea  is 
for  the  most  part  necessarily  through  the  auditory  image. 
Hence  children  and  imperfectly  educated  adults  may  be  seen 
to  move  the  lips  as  they  read.  They  are  calling  up  more  or 
less  distinctly  the  sound  image  of  the  word.  And  this  is  well ; 
the  real  word  is  a  sound ;  it  is  a  spoken  and  heard  thing;  — 
a  "  winged  word."  Nor  is  the  swift  absorption  of  the  mean- 
ing of  sentence  or  paragraph  by  the  trained  adult  the  whole 
art  of  reading  well.  The  higher  kinds  of  literature  demand 
that  the  sound  images  be  present  while  we  read,  or  the  reading  is 
imperfect.  Tennyson  and  Milton,  when  read  as  one  reads  the 
newspaper —  for  the  idea  only  —  cease  to  be  literature  in  any 
real  sense.  One  must  hear  Milton's  verse,  or  he  is  not  reading 
it.  This  delight  in  the  mere  sound  of  verse  and  of  good  prose* 
is  often  seen  in  school  children.  By  all  means  let  it  be  fos- 
tered ;  it  will  minister  not  merely  to  clearness  in  reading,  but 
to  aesthetic  enjoyment. 

Learning  a  language,  whether  the  vernacular  or  a  foreign 
language,  is  not  a  mere  act  of  acquisition.  Storing  the  mem- 
Relation  °ry  }^  o'^^y  one  pkrt  of  the  process.  There  must 
Re^^ngand  ^^  ^"^^  reflection  and  expression.  When  one 
Expression,  thinks  in  a  language,  one  is  learning  it.  When 
he  puts  his  thoughts  into  connected  discourse,  he  is  gaining 
not  merely  a  clearer  notion  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  and  a 
better  memory  of  them,  but  he  is  training  his  mind  in  seeing 
relationships.  Without  this  element  language  study  is  not 
much  above  rote-work  :  it  yields  no  training  in  thought.  Nor, 
without  the  stimulus  and  interest  of  the  thought  element,  can 
the  acquisition  of  the  language  go  satisfactorily  forward.  Hence 
arises  the  necessity  for  choosine.  as  the  basis  of  primary  in- 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 15 

structioii  in  language,  not  only  such  material  as  will  enlist  the 
interest  of  the  pupils,  but  such  as  will  also  afford  the  opportun- 
ity for  the  best  training  in  thought  which  they  are  capable  of 
receiving. 

Before  leaving  the  topic  of  the  teaching  of  reading  in  its 
earliest  stages,  certain  topics  of  minor  importance  but  of  con- 
siderable aggregate  value  must  be  briefly  considered.  Brief 
reference  has  been  already  made  to  the  controversy  of  the 
"  word  method  "  vs.  the  "  sentence  method,"  and  the  con- 
clusion drawn  that  no  matter  which  be  used,  the  real  work  in 
.reading,  /.  <?.,  the  power  to  be  self-helpful,  begins  when  the 
pupil  analyzes  the  word  into  its  sound  elements  and  letter  ele- 
ments, and  makes  of  these  elements  the  synthesis  which  presents 
a  new  word  to  his  consciousness.  It  is  therefore  of  some 
importance  what  words  are  taken  for  the  first  steps  in  this 
process. 

These  first  words,^  called  "  normal  words,"  must  be  chosen 
with  reference  ( i )  to  their  necessity  in  sentence  building,  the, 
is,  an,  etc.;  (2)  to  their  power  of  presenting  an  Normal 
idea  to  the  child  which  he  can  grasp  and  in  which  ^'"^*^- 
he  is  interested,  as,  i/og,  boy,  books,  ri/ti,  etc.;  (3)  to  their 
similarity  of  form  to  other  words,  in  order  that  by  inference 
the  pupil  can  reach  a  conception  of  the  relation  between  a 
certain  group  of  symbols  and  a  certain  constant  of  sound,  as 
in  bat,  cat,  hat,  etc.  Many  such  lists  of  "  normal- words " 
have  been  offered.  It  is  obvious  that  any  effective  list  must 
be  selected  also  with  reference  to  the  particular  group  of  chil- 
dren with  whom  it  is  to  be  used.  It  must  include  only  words 
which  are  already  in  their  vocabulary,  and  which  represent 
ideas  familiar  and  interesting  to  them.  For  their  first  task  is 
not  to  learn  new  words,  but  to  learn  old  words  under  a  new  form. 

The  "  normal "  or  "  model "  sentence  used  for  the  first 
exercises  in  readins;   should  be   selected   in  accordance  with 


1  See  Kehr,  Gesckichte  dts  Lese-Unterrichtes^  pp.  109-110,  and  Ward, 
"  Rational  System  of  Reading,"  New  York  Teachers'  Monograph,  I. 
No.  3. 


Il6    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

similar  principles.     It    must    reach   the   interest    and    under- 
standing of  the  pupils,    must  therefore  embody   familiar  and. 
Model  simple  words,  and  must  be  short  enough  to  be  easily 

Sentences.  grasped.  In  addition  to  these  qualities  it  must 
have  some  real  thought  and  be  able  to  give  some  exercise  to 
the  child's  reason  or  some  satisfaction  to  his  aesthetic  faculty. 
Sentences  made  to  order  on  the  plan  of  the  OUendorf  lessons 
in  French  and  German,  and  involving  impossible  and  absurd 
collocations  of  ideas,  are  not  the  type  of  sentence  to  cultivate 
the  power  of  thinking.  As  Professor  Sweet  has  pointed 
out,^  the  best  model  sentences  are  those  which  contain  a 
rational  idea  and  in  which  some  familiar  or  necessary  rela- 
tion is  set  forth ;  so  that  the  reader  may  get  at  the  mean- 
ings of  the  words  not  only  by  the  processes  of  analysis  of 
their  form,  but  by  just  inference.  The  sun  rises  in  the 
east,  and  sets  in  the  west,  is  a  good  example  of  such  a  model 
sentence. 

Whether  the  lessons  read  by  the  child  should  be  in  script  or 
in  print  is  still  in  debate.  Obviously,  the  print  is  simpler  than 
Print  or  the  cursive  script,  since  the  letters  in  print  are  not 

Scnpt.  ^^^  together,  and  since  they  are  not  subject  to  the 

same  variations  in  form.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  script 
can  be  seen  to  grow  under  the  children's  eyes,  can  be  turned 
to  account  to  record  at  once  the  ideas  of  the  children,  and  is 
the  form  in  which  their  own  ideas  are  to  find  written  expres- 
sion ;  nor  is  the  script  of  much  greater  difficulty  than  the  print. 
Although  the  print  is  somewhat  the  simpler,  the  script  seems, 
therefore,  to  be  the  more  useful  in  the  practical  work  of  teach- 
ing reading. 

The  objections  to  the  use  of  the  cursive  script  have  been 
much  lessened  by  the  wide  introduction  of  the  vertical  script 
Vertical  ^s  a  substitute  for  the  slanting  script.     This  new 

Scnpt.  form  of  writing  is  so  much  more  legible,  and  is  so 

much  nearer  in  its  general  appearance  to  print,  that  the  tran- 
sition from  script  to  print  is  comparatively  easy.    The  principal 


^  Practical  Study  of  Lan^ua^es.  dd.  ni  ff. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     WJ 

arguments  ^  which  have  led  to  its  general  adoption  are  ( i ) 
that  it  can  be  written  in  a  more  erect  and  therefore  more 
'0^  hygienic  posture,  and  (2)  that  it  is  more  legible  because  it  is' 
easier  for  the  eyes  to  follow  vertical  than  slanting  lines,  and 
(3)  that  it  is  more  rapid.  To  these  arguments  it  is  objected 
(i)  that  the  slanting  script  may  also  be  written  in  an  erect 
posture,  (2)  that  it  has  more  beauty,  (3)  that  it  is  more 
rapid,  (4)  that  it  gives  greater  scope  for  individual  variations 
in  handwriting. 

In  some  cities,  as  in  New  York,  a  modified  form  of  the  ver- 
tical has  partly  displaced  the  absolutely  vertical,  largely  on  the 
grounds  of  speed.  In  the  present  unsettled  state  of  the  matter, 
it  seems  safe  to  say  only  that  w'hile  the  advocates  of  the  verti- 
cal script  have  the  better  of  the  argument  as  to  legibility  and 
hygiene,  they  have  not  had  time  as  yet  to  demonstrate  the 
superiority  of  their  system  for  speed  and  individuality  of  form. 
A  full  test  of  these  matters  should  be  reached  within  a  few 
years,  when  the  children  trained  in  the  schools  shall  have  taken 
sufficient  part  in  active  business  life. 

Some  difference  of  belief  and  practice  still  exists  with  refer- 
ence to  the  first  instruction  in  writing.  That  the  earliest  writing 
should  be  in  large  free  hand,  in  pencil  and  on  un- 

ruled  paper,  or  with   crayon  on    the  blackboard,   instruction 

in  Writing. 
seems  to  be  accepted.     Young  children  have  not 

sufficient  co-ordination  of  nerves  and  muscles  for  the  minuter 

movements ;   nor    are   such    movements    hygienic    either    in 

their  effects  on  the  nervous  system  or  on  the  eyes.     If  forced 

upon  the  children   too   early,  they  are  likely  to  result  in  a 

cramped  and  awkward  movement  that    persists  in  the    later 

handwriting.     The  earliest    attempts    should,   of    course,    be* 

imitative,    and    accompanied    with    no   detailed    instruction, 

except  in  the  holding  of  the  pencil  or  crayon. 

As  to  the  time  when  the  work  should  begin,  teachers  differ. 


^  See,  for  example,  the  pamphlets  by  C.  H.  Ames,  published  by  D.  C. 
Henth  ^  Co.,  Shaw's  School  Jlygie^u,  New  York,  1901,  and  M.  M. 
Bridges,  A  New  Handwriting  for   Teachers,  Clarendon   Press,   1902. 


Il8     ENGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATION 

The  "■  read-write  "  method  of  teaching  reading,  which  requires 
that  writing  be  begun  earher,  within  the  first  two  months  of 
the  primary  work,  seems  to  be  sustained  by  experience.  In 
some  schools,  however,  no  writing  is  allowed  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  year,  on  the  ground  that,  if  begun  earlier, 
(i)  bad  habits  will  be  formed,  (2)  the  children  will  have  the 
double  task  of  learning  to  read  and  write  at  the  same  time,  and 
(3)  the  work  of  writing  is  too  minute  and  particular  a  task  for 
children  under  seven  years  of  age.  The  last  argument  is  an- 
swered by  an  appeal  to  experience,  and  the  second  has  been 
answered  in  a  previous  paragraph.  The  first  argument,  the 
danger  of  the  formation  of  bad  habits,  seems  to  ignore  the  rec- 
ognized methods  of  growth  in  the  mental  life  of  chiUlren.  In 
all  their  activities,  both  motor  and  mental,  they  grow  by  practice 
from  the  crude  and  imperfect  to  the  less  crude  and  imperfect. 
To  delay  the  attempt  at  any  kind  of  action  beyond  the  point 
at  which  the  child  is  ready  and  willing  to  make  the  attempt 
would  be  like  postponement  of  the  opportunity  to  walk  or  to 
talk  when  the  impulse  prompts  to  these  activities.  The  sole 
question  is,  therefore,  not  at  what  age  children  can  begin  to 
write  well,  but  at  what  age  they  can  and  will  make  the  attempt 
to  write.  This  period  seems  to  be  early  in  the  first  year  of 
the  primary  school. 

Among  the  objects  of  the  instruction  in  English  is  the 
oral  rendering  of  the  thought  on  the  printed  page.  As  the 
Reading  \vhole  energy  of  the  pupil  is  at  first  employed  in 

Aloud.  making  out  the  single  words,  oral  reading  is  likely 

to  be  dull  and  monotonous.  From  the  first,  therefore,  there 
should  be  practice  in  reading  aloud  sentences  and  stories,  that 
are  known  to  the  pupils,  and  others  that  can  be  read  with 
considerable  ease.  To  the  same  end  the  school  exercises  in 
oral  reading  should  have  in  view  as  a  purpose  distinctly  recog- 
nised by  the  pupils  the  conveying  to  the  other  members  of  the 
class  and  to  the  teacher  the  meaning  of  the  sentence  or  the 
story.  If  the  tone  is  monotonous,  the  pupil  should  be  asked 
to  put  aside  the  book  and  tcU  the  thing.  Different  renderings 
of  the  same  sentence  by  various  members  of  the  class  and  by 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENT  A  RY  ED  UCA  TION    1 1 9 

the  teacher  will  serve  to  show  how  the  idea  changes  with  the 
change  of  emphasis.  Each  pupil  will  thus  show  what  the  sen- 
tence means  to  him.  The  clear  enunciation  and  correct  pro- 
nunciation of  the  words,  and  the  right  use  of  the  voice,  will 
be  seen  in  their  real  relations  as  a  means  of  conveying  ideas 
easily.  That  we  speak  to  be  heard  and  understood,  is  a  point 
of  view  that  children  can  well  appreciate. 

Among  the  devices  familiar  to  many  is  reading  "  in  con- 
cert." ^  It  seems  a  simple  means  of  securing  the  activity  of 
all  the  pupils.  But  a  little  analysis  of  the  process  Reading  "in 
makes  its  value  appear  very  doubtful.  The  slower  Concert." 
pupils  lag  behind,  or  mumble  some  approximation  to  the  right 
words  that  is  lost  in  the  general  volume  of  sound ;  individual 
difficulties  are  thus  lost  sight  of.  Interpretation  and  expression 
are  sacrificed  to  a  meaningless  and  monotonous  rhythm.  A 
little  careful  drill  of  small  groups  of  pupils,  while  the  rest  of 
the  class  are  kept  busy  at  their  seats,  will  prove  a  much  more 
effective  way  of  giving  individual  help.^ 

In  former  paragraphs  we  have  dwelt  upon  the  importance  of 
correct  and  clear  enunciation.  This  should  be  sought  not 
only  in  the  general  reading-lessons,  but  through  Qg^ 
the  instruction  of  individuals  or  small  groups  of  Enunciation, 
children.  It  should  not  ordinarily  be  needed  beyond  the  first 
two  years  of  school,  if  properly  attended  to  in  those  years. 
Daily  attention  to  clear  speaking,  with  occasional  exercises  to 
break  the  habit  of  mumbling  and  to  secure  proper  use  of  the 
vocal  organs,  will  do  much.  The  primary  teacher  has  many 
things  to  learn  ;  but  surely  a  little  training  in  the  correct  use  of 
the  organs  of  speech,  and  in  suitable  exercises  for  children, 
might  without  objection  be  added  to  her  equipment  for  her 
important  work. 


1  J.  M.  Rice,  The  Public  School  System  of  the  United  States,  and  Sarah 
Louise  Arnold,  Reading,  How  to  Teach  It,  216-221. 

^  One  of  the  authors  has  seen  concert  reading  in  which  the  teacher 
showed  the  skill  of  an  orchestra  leader  in  detecting  variations  and  errors. 
Such  skill  in  the  teacher  would,  of  course,  remove  one  of  the  objections 
to  the  plan.  —  F.  N.  S. 


I20    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

In  close  connection  with  the  foregoing  topic  the  subject  of 
"  word  analysis "  presents  itself  for  consideration.  In  the 
"Word  paragraphs  on  phonetics  attention  was  called  to  the 

Analysis.  method  of  analyzing  the  words  into  their  sound 
elements,  as  a  necessary  step  in  learning  to  read.  In  the 
earlier  employment  of  the  word  and  sentence  methods,  the 
error  was  often  made  of  neglecting  the  analysis  of  words  into 
their  sound  elements.  The  natural  result  was  that  children 
knew  words  imperfectly  and  incompletely,  confused  words  of 
similar  form  with  each  other,  and  spelled  absurdly.  The  only 
way  of  avoiding  such  carelessness  seems  to  be  to  fix  the  atten- 
tion upon  the  words  not  merely  as  wholes,  but  upon  the  parts 
of  which  they  are  niade.  This  must  be  done  (i)  by  careful 
attention  to  the  elements  of  the  spoken  word,  both  in  the  aud- 
itory image  and  in  the  enunciation,  and  (2)  by  careful  atten- 
tion and  frequent  drill  in  the  elements  of  the  written  word. 
Attention  must  be  given  to  syllabification,  connected  with  the 
sounds  in  words  that  are  perfecdy  phonetic,  and  fixed  by 
practice  in  writmg  in  all  words  that  vary  from  the  phonetic 
norm.  The  memories  of  the  sound,  the  articulation  of  the 
written  form,  and  the  motor  movements  of  writing  the  words 
should  reinforce  and  support  each  other;  the  difficulties  in 
visualizing  the  words  fully  and  clearly,  or  in  getting  the  clear 
auditory  image,  should  be  noted  and  removed  as  far  as 
possible  by  practice.  Carelessness  and  indolence  should,  on 
the  other  hand,  be  recognized  for  what  they  are,  and  treated 
with  the  same  tact  and  persistency  applied  to  other  moral 
delinquencies. 

Modern  conditions  are  not  adequately  recognized  in  ele- 
mentary instruction  unless  account  is  taken  of  two  widely 
Sight  different  kinds  of  reading  :   the  minute  and  careful, 

Reading.  ^^^  ^j-^g  rapid  and  cursory.     Some  things  are  to 

be  studied,  others  merely  skimmed ;  and  this  distinction 
should  appear  in  tlie  earlier  work.  At  first  the  attention  is 
wholly  absorbed  by  recognizing  and  analyzing  the.  words. 
Then,  when  a  certain  facility  is  attained,  some  things  are 
to  be  read  with  especial  care,  for  the   mastery  of  the  idea. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    121 

At  this  point  the  child  can  be  made  to  appreciate  the  necessity 
of  rapid  reading  and  of  careful  and  repeated  reading. 

V.   Composition  in  Elementary  Schools 

The  teaching  of  composition  in  elementary  schools  has   in 

recent  years  assumed  considerable  prominence.     A  half-century 

asfo,  in  the  common  schools  of  this  country,  such 

Earlier 
teaching  was  much  more  limited  in  amount  and   Aims  and 

kind.  The  theory  of  the  instruction  seems  to 
have  been  that  a  knowledge  of  grammatical  laws,  of  the  mean- 
ings of  words,  of  usage,  of  spelling,  and  of  punctuation  was  for 
the  elementary  pupil  the  proper  and  sufficient  preparation  for 
the  writing  of  the  composition.  To  these  things  there  was 
added  drill  in  sentence  structure  and  some  instruction  in  figures 
of  speech.  Transcription  of  the  copy-book  sentence,  and  ex- 
ercises in  dictation,  in  letter  writing,  and  in  paraphrasing  served 
for  practice  in  acquiring  the  correct  forms  of  written  expression. 
Weekly  or  monthly  set  compositions  were  sometimes  required. 
These  were  usually  upon  subjects  either  of  a  strictly  informa- 
tional character,  such  as  the  lives  of  notable  men,  or  upon 
abstract  subjects.  Two  characteristics  of  this  instruction  stand 
out  quite  clearly  :  ( i)  It  proceeded  from  the  part  to  the  whole, 
that  is,  from  the  word  to  the  sentence,  and  sometimes  from 
the  sentence  to  the  paragraph.  It  laid  emphasis  upon  the- 
details,  upon  the  forms  and  the  various  mechanical  and  con- 
ventional elements  of  the  work  before  considering  the  entire 
composition.  (2)  Its  treatment  of  the  thought  side  of  the  work 
was  inadequate.  It  either  assumed  that  the  material  for  writing 
was  already  in  the  child's  mind,  as  in  its  choice  of  abstract 
subjects,  or,  as  in  its  informational  subjects,  left  the  gathering 
and  ordering  of  the  material  to  the  child's  unaided  efforts. 

Such  a  system  was,  of  course,  unsatisfactory.     The  insistence 
upon  the  mechanical  side  to  the  neglect  of  the  ideas  deprived 
the  work'of  interest  to  both  pupil  and  teacher,  and  jheir 
made  it  perfunctory  and  artificial.     Lacking  ideas,   ^^*^<^*s* 
it  lacked  both  interest  and   dignity,   and  the  instruction  in 


122     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

English  sank  back  upon  spelling  and  formal  grammar,  where 
at  least  something  definite  and  tangible  could  be  found.  That 
some  good  results  were  obtained  is  not  to  be  denied.  The 
emphasis  upon  "  correctness  "  could  not  fail  to  have  good 
effects  in  many  cases.  But  of  the  larger  aims  of  composition 
teaching,  as  now  commonly  understood,  of  the  training  in 
thought  and  in  the  gathering  and  ordering  of  material,  of  the 
sufficient  practice  that  brings  easy  and  orderly  writing,  the 
older  type  of  instruction  took  no  heed.  In  recognition  of 
the  defective  standards  once  everywhere  prevalent,  Professor 
Laurie  writes  :  "  The  word  '  essay  '  is  a  hateful  word  ;  it  is 
associated  with  so  much  in  schools,  especially  girls'  schools, 
that  is  false  and  hollow  and  showy."  ^ 

Since  the  recent  general  stimulus  of  interest  in  English 
teaching  the  fundamental  principles  of  composition  work  have 
been  variously  apprehended.  By  some  writers  the  emphasis 
is  laid  mainly  upon  practice  \^  by  others,  the  training  of 
the  imagination  has  been  given  special  importance,^  and  in  the 
view  of  yet  other  writers  the  training  in  thought,  both  in  the 
gathering  and  ordering  of  material  and  in  the  process  of  ex- 
pression, is  the  principal  object.  According  as  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  objects  has  been  uppermost,  the  scheme  of  in- 
struction has  been  determined  both  in  material  and  in  methods  ; 
hence  the  special  emphasis  upon  daily  themes,  or  upon  the 
^writing  of  original  stories,  or  upon  the  systematic  plans  for 
gathering  and  arranging  material.  An  important  difference  of 
opinion  appears,  too,  as  to  the  degree  to  which  special  in- 
Present  struction  and  drill  in  the  laws  of  composition  and 
Problems.  j.j^g  conventional  matters  of  writing  should  be 
carried.  Shall  we  begin  by  finding  something  interesting  to 
write  about,  and  give  the  attention  first  to  arousing  interest  in 
the  subject?  Or  shall  we  first  insist  upon  the  power  to  form 
sentences  and  paragraphs  according  to  good  rhetorical  princi- 


1  La7iguage  and  Linguistic  Method. 
^  See,  for  example,  the  Harvard  Reports  on  English. 
^  See  The  Problem  of  Elementary  Composition,  by  Elizabeth  H.  Spald- 
ing, Boston,  1896. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 23 

pies,  and  then  seek  for  the  interesting  thing  to  say?  What 
type  of  subjects  shall  then  be  chosen?  Shall  there' be  daily 
written  exercises?  Or  less  frequent  writing,  with  more  criti- 
cism? These  and  many  other  questions  arise  in  the  work  of 
the  elementary  teacher. 

The  general  aim  of  elementary  composition  teaching  seems 
to  the  present  writers  to  be,  primarily,  not  the  acquisition  of 
an  art,  nor  the  cultivation  of  a  science,  but  the   ^^^  ^^^ . 

training  of  the  mind  through  the  acquisition  and   1.  Jrainiiig 
o  "-in  Tnouglit 

expression  of  ideas.     This  view  does  not  ignore  the  through 

^  ...  Expression, 

fact  that  writing  is  an  art,  or  that  m  some  degree 

the  elementary  study  of  language  is  a  science  ;  but  it  makes  the 
purpose  of  teaching  composition  in  the  schools  parallel  with  the 
purpose  of  teaching  other  subjects,  that  is,  to  lead  the  pupil 
to  learn  something  and  to  express  it  clearly,  either  orally  or  in 
writing.  A  defence  of  this  principle  as  a  basis  in  teaching 
composition  is  no  more  needed  than  in  other  school  subjects. 
It  is  indeed  the  general  problem  of  instruction.  Even  the 
manual  arts  have  the  same  end  in  view,  though  the  expression 
there  is  through  another  medium  than  words. 

Education  is  a  process  whereby  the  child  is  brought  into  in- 
telligent and  interesting  contact  with  the  world,  with  the 
material  world  about  him,  and  with  the  world  of  the  human 
spirit,  both  present  and  past :  a  process  involving  the  growth 
of  his  own  power  and  capacities  by  careful  observation, 
correct  inference,  and  adequate  expression.^  The  teach- 
ing of  composition  should,  we  believe,  aim  at  precisely 
these  things.  It  succeeds  when  the  pupil  has  learned  to 
see,  to  think,  and  to  express;  when  his  mental  life  has 
grown  richer  and  more  interesting,  his  views  of  things 
more  just,  his  knowledge  and  his  inferences  more  clearly 
expressed.  The  purposes  of  teaching  composition  are,  there- 
fore, as  was  said  before,  the  same  as  the  aims  of  the  rest  of 
the  curriculum.     The  same    view  is  more  radically  stated  by 


1  See  the  well-known   statement  of   President  Eliot,  Educational 
Reform,  410  ff.,  New  York,  1S98. 


124    EXGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATION 

Meiklejohn  :  ^  '•  The  idea  that  composition  is  artificial,  and  the 

fact  that  we  postpone    the  teaching  of  it  until  very  late,  give 

rise  to  the  vulgar  belief  that  it  is  a  '  subject '  like  French,  or 

Latin,  or  history.     But  composition  is  not  a  '  subject.'     It  is 

quite  an  ordinary  practice  —  a  very  general  activity.  ...  If 

it  is  not  a  subject,  oral  composition  ought  to  be  begun  as  soon 

as  the  pupil  can  read,  and  written  composition  as  soon  as  the 

pupil  can  write.     In  fact,  writing  and  speaking  are  simply  two 

forms  of  one  mental  act,  —  the  act  of  expression." 

Such  a  statement,  however,  goes  too  far.     There  is  a  certain 

body  of  facts  and  principles,  some  of  them  purely  arbitrary 

and  conventional,  others  logical  and  inherent  in  the 
2.  Teachlne  .  ,  ,  .   , 

the  Media  of     nature  01  our  mental  processes,  which  must  be  taught 

principally  in  the  lessons  in  composition.  Some  of 
these  principles,  though  involved  also  in  the  teaching  of  other 
school  subjects,  such  as  the  arrangement  of  ideas  in  clear  and 
logical  order,  are  most  effectively  presented  in  connection 
with  composition  ;  and  many  of  the  arbitrarj'  and  conventional 
facts  of  the  language,  such  as  spelling,  punctuation,  etc.,  are 
purely  matters  of  the  "  subject  "  English.  So  that  while  the 
primary  aim  of  the  work  is,  as  stated  above,  to  train  the  mind 
through  the  acquisition  and  expression  of  ideas,  the  second 
aim  must  be  to  teach  those  facts  and  principles  of  language 
which  are  the  necessary  media  of  successful  expression. 

If  the  foregoing  aims  be  accepted  as  a  proper  basis  for  the 
work,  the  first  consideration  of  the  teacher  is  seen  to  be  the 
Material  for  gathering  of  the  material.  "  Matter  before  form  " 
Compositioii.  -^  ^^  educational  dictum,  rendered  valid  by  both 
the  interests  and  the  powers  of  the  children.  Every  obser\^int 
teacher  knows  that  children  are  interested  in  (i)  the  world  of. 
visible  and  external  facts  about  them,  (2)  the  world  of  story, 
whether  history  or  fiction,  (3)  the  explanation  of  things.  He 
knows  further  that  only  certain  types  of  facts  in  life  and  certain 


1  See  Meiklejohn,  TTie  Art  of  Writing  English.  See  also  School 
Review,  I.  660  ff.,  where  Professor  Barrett  Wendell  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  most  of  the  English  teacher's  knowledge  is  assumed  to 
be  common  property. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    12$ 

types  of  action  in  story  are  apprehended  by  them,  that  the 
power  of  apprehension  varies  somewhat  in  the  individual 
pupils  and  in  different  schools,  and  that,  however  active  the 
child's  interest  in  the  reason  of  things,  he  can  go  but  a  little 
way  in  explanation  or  exposition. 

In  general,  therefore,  the  material  for  composition  must  be 
drawn  from  the  child's  daily  experience  and  from  the  stories 
which  interest  him.     It  must  be  selected,  more-    interest  and 
over,    not   merely    by   this    general    rule,   but  by  f^semi^P 
means  of  the  teacher's  actual  acquaintance  with 
the    experiences   and  interests  of  the  class.      Knowledge  of 
the    subject    and    interest    in    it  are  of  the  first  importance. 
The    unfamiliar   and    difficult   act   of    writing   is   of   itself   a 
barrier    to    expression    in    the    earlier    stages    of   the    work. 
The    mere    thought    of    having   to    "write    a    composition" 
is    often    enough    to    scatter   the    child's    ideas    to    the    four 
winds.     Ask  him,  therefore,  to  tell  on  paper  something  which 
he  knows  too  well  to  forget,  and  in    which  he  is  too  much 
interested    to  be  daunted    by    the    mechanical    difficulties    of 
expression. 

For  the  observant  child  —  that  is,  for  the  child  of  normal 
type  —  life  is  full  of  such  material.  He  talks  of  it  freely  and 
often  ;  his  mind  has  grown  through  such  observations  and  ex- 
pressions. But  when  he  is  asked  to  write  his  memories  some- 
times desert  him.  Here  is  the  teacher's  opportunity  and 
duty,  —  to  find  the  material  that  the  pupil  knows,  and  to 
bring  him  to  the  expression  of  it.  A  runaway  horse,  a  fire 
alarm,  an  arrest,  the  construction  of  a  building,  a  Types  of 
"  sandwich  man,"  or  any  one  of  the  hundreds  of  Subject, 
striking  objects  and  incidents  seen  on  our  city  streets,  may 
be  selected.  The  child's  home  life,  his  games,  his  pets,  or 
his  toys  will  seem  to  him  worth  talking  about.  So,  too, 
the  stories  that  he  has  read,  in  school  or  out,  are  good 
material  for  his  work  in  composition.  Early  in  the  in- 
struction, the  material  that  he  has  learned  in  other  school 
subjects  can  be  employed  :  his  history,  his  science,  or  his 
manual  training. 


126    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

Pictures  that  tell  a  story  or  give  a  scene  clearly  can  be  in- 
terpreted in  words. ^  In  those  that  invite  a  comparison  the 
Use  of  pupil  may  note  points  of  likeness  or  of  difference. 

Pictures.  Such  a  challenge  to  the  inventiveness  of  the  pupil 
as  this,  or  as  in  a  partially  told  story  which  he  is  asked  to  com- 
plete, brings  excellent  results.  The  quantity  of  good  material 
is,  in  fact,  very  large.  If  the  composition  work  lacks  interest, 
it  must  be  because  the  teacher  lacks  either  ingenuity  or  the 
capacity  to  enter  into  the  interests  of  childhood.  Life  is 
everywhere  interesting  enough,  and  the  normal  child  suffi- 
ciently alive. 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  the  material  should  be  inter- 
esting. It  should  be  capable  of  use  for  the  aim  of  composition 
teaching  :  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  through  thought  and 
expression.  It  must  be  sufficiently  knowable  by  the  child  to 
give  him  some  clear  and  definite  things  to  say,  and  it  should 
stimulate  his  observation  and  his  thought.  In  the  later  stages 
of  the  work,  the  material  chosen  should  frequently  afford 
opportunity  for  the  ordering  and  arrangement  of  ideas  into 
some  sort  of  unified  form.  For  example,  such  a  topic  as 
How  I  Spent  my  Vacation  is  not  of  the  best ;  for  it  is  likely 
to  bring  forth  only  a  string  of  co-ordinate  and  more  or  less 
disconnected  ideas,  succeeding  each  other  with  a  series  of 
ands.  A  particular  incident  of  such  a  vacation,  as  a  fishing 
trip,  or  a  boating  accident,  or  a  ride  in  the  hay-field,  is  much 
more  susceptible  of  the  orderly  treatment  which  results  in 
good  form.  It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that,  especially  in  the 
lower  grades,  incidents  are,  in  general,  better  than  scenes ; 
narration  is  better  than  description,  for  both  interest  and  ease 
of  telling. 

Not  only  the  matter  but  also  the  motives  of  the  earlier 
exercises  are  important.  The  making  of  a  sentence  or  a  para- 
graph may  not  be  a  comprehensible  or  interesting  purpose  to 


1  Such  pictures  are  now  generally  found  in  school  books  as  well  as  in 
books  made  primarily  for  entertainment.  The  making  of  good  and  cheap 
reproductions  of  fine  pictures  is  now  common.  See,  for  example,  the 
catalogue  of  The  Cosmos  Pictures  Co.,    New  York. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 27 

a  young  child ;  but  the  teUing  of  a  story  or  the  writing  of  a 
letter  will  be.  Why  should  one  write,  but  to  communicate 
ideas?  A  story  or  a  message  told  in  a  letter,  to  First  Exer- 
be  sent,  as  letters  should  be,  to  an  absent  acquaint-  an"stor^^" 
ance,  will  seem  to  the  child  a  reasonable  motive  telling. 
for  writing.^  So  will  the  writing  of  a  short  story  to  be  read 
to  the  class.  As  language  always  concerns  two,  him  who  talks 
and  him  who  hears,  or  him  who  writes  and  him  who  reads, 
its  employment  in  teaching  should  recognize  this  natural 
relationship. 

Considerable  emphasis  has  elsewhere  in  the  present  volume 
been  laid  upon  the  value  and  necessity  of  oral  language.  In 
the  employment  of  it  one  of  the  objects  should  be,  ^^ 
as  said  before,  to  break  down  the  barrier  between  Composition, 
oral  and  written  composition.  The  pupil  should  realize  that 
composition  is  with  him  "  a  habitual  activity,"  that  every  time 
he  talks  he  is  composing,  that  the  written  composition  is  only 
the  same  thing  in  another  form,  though  perhaps  a  litde  more 
carefully  considered  and  executed,  and  that  his  habits  of  speech 
and  of  writing  can  each  be  brought  to  reinforce  the  other. 
Always  in  the  lower  grades,  and  often  in  the  upper  grades, 
the  set  composition  should  first  be  given  orally  :  the  ideas  be 
told  and  retold  and  the  telling  criticised  by  various  members 
of  the  class.  Such  a  process  bridges  over  the  formidable  gap 
between  oral  and  written  speech,  making  the  latter  distinctly 
easier  and  more  natural. 

^  After  the  earlier  efforts,  which  should  be  very  short  and 
rather  frequent,  the  interest  can  gradually  be  directed  toward 
the  forms.  The  conventions  of  writing  and  print-  -,j^  p  ^ 
ing  sanction  certain  usages,  as  seen  in  the  books  Elements, 
read  and  in  the  written  language  of  the  teacher.  There  are 
capitals,  punctuation  marks,  fixed  ways  of  spelling  words,  etc. ; 
a  sentence  says  something  completely,  and  not  in  unrelated 


1  Excellent  models  for  use  in  this  kind  of  work  are  some  of  the  letters 
of  Phillips  Brooks,  Lowell,  Dickens,  Stevenson,  Eugene  Field,  and 
Macaulay. 


128     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

fragments.  These  matters  must  be  learned,  and  when  for- 
gotten, as  they  will  be  many  times,  learned  again.  They  are 
to  be  learned,  moreover,  not  by  rule,  but  rather  by  observation 
and  practice,  and  fixed  in  memory  by  the  simplest  possible 
statement  of  the  rule  or  principle.  Not  too  much  at  once, 
and  the  most  essential  things  first,  are  good  working  rules. 

It  is  appropriate  here  to  review  some  of  the  other  common 
forms  of  school  work  in  language.  Among  the  first  in  place 
Transcrip-  ^"^  value,  is  transcription.  Professor  Laurie  has 
tion-  said  :  ^    "To   make  boys  and  girls   sit  down  and 

write  out,  with  due  attention  to  legible  writing  and  punctua- 
tion, prose  paragraphs  and  poems  from  celebrated  authors,  is 
an  admirable  exercise.  It  gives  linguistic  material.  At  all 
ages,  but  especially  in  the  earlier  years  of  language-teaching, 
this  exercise  should  be  almost  a  daily  one.  .  .  .  There  is  no 
strain  in  this  exercise,  and  it  is  all  the  better  for  that."  Such 
exercises  are  of  special  value  for  pupils  who,  through  either 
carelessness  or  lack  of  memory,  are  deficient  on  the  formal 
side.  But  the  method  might  be  easily  abused.  The  choice 
of  material  not  interesting  or  intelligible  to  the  child,  or  too 
long  in  quantity,  could  only  bring  disgust  with  the  process. 
Moreover,  it  would  be  unfortunate  to  allow  this  easy  device 
to  supplant  the  need  of  inventiveness  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher.  It  is,  after  all,  only  one  of  those  good  formal  proc- 
esses against  the  usurpations  of  which  teachers  must  "be  on 
their  guard. 

Some  of  the  best  methods  in  teaching  are  among  the  old 
methods.     Dictation  is  one  of  them.     It  trains  the  ear,  con- 
nects  the   oral   with   the   written   language,  brings 
Dictation.  .  &     s  >  & 

the  pupil  gradually  to  the  power  of  writing  auto- 
matically the  word  that  is  in  the  mind,  and  has  the  advantage 
of  being  easily  comparable  with  the  correct  model.  If  the 
material  for  dictation  is  taken  from  books  in  the  pupils'  pos- 
session, the  self-criticism  of  the  pupils  can  be  made  most 
helpful. 


^  Language  and  Linguistic  Method,  p.  56. 


ENGLISH  AV  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 29 

Probably  the  most  common  form  of  composition  in  our 
schools  is  the  writing  of  "  reproductions  "  and  paraphrases. 
By  the  former  is  meant  giving  a  somewhat  con-  Rgnrodoc- 
densed  report  or  transcript  of  a  selection  either  of  ^ons. 
prose  or  poetry.  As  a  means  of  acquainting  pupils  with  good 
literature,  of  affording  something  interesting  to  tell,  and  of 
training  in  getting  at  the  essentials  of  a  passage,  it  is  excellent. 
Moreover,  if  the  material  is  simple,  it  serves  in  some  degree 
also  as  a  model  for  the  pupils'  own  efforts  at  original  composi- 
tion. The  degree  of  fulness  with  which  the  passage  should 
be  reproduced  will,  of  course,  vary  with  the  circumstances. 
In  general,  the  aim  should  be  to  have  the  pupils'  work  full 
enough  to  be  interesting  to  their  classmates.  In  the  upper 
grammar  grades  a  useful  form  of  exercise  is  the  making  of 
brief  abstracts  of  paragraphs,  such  as  are  the  headings  of 
newspaper  articles. 

Paraphrases  have  been  a  much  abused  school  exercise. 
They  have  served  to  fill  many  an  hour  for  helpless  teachers,  to 
disgust  pupils  with  many  a  beautiful  piece  of  litera- 
ture, and  to  provoke  lively  invective  from  many 
a  school  reformer.  Says  one  of  these,  "  A  more  detestable 
exercise  I  do  not  know.  It  is  a  vile  use  of  pen  and  ink." 
Undoubtedly  it  often  is.  To  take  a  thing  of  beauty,  and 
to  degrade  it^  into  a  muddle-headed  and  absurd  form,  does 
seem*  a  kind  of  sacrilege  which  it  is  hard  to  defend.  Cer- 
tainly the  claim  that  paraphrasing  is  a  means  of  cultivating 
a  good  style  seems  ridiculous.  As  an  exercise  in  com- 
position, it  might  well  be  abandoned.  But  as  a  means  of 
bringing  a  pupil  to  see  that  he  does  not  fully  understand 
the  meaning  of  a  passage,  or  to  realize  the  fulness  of  meaning 
packed  into  small  compass,  and  therefore  as  an  occa- 
sional adjunct  to  the  teaching  of  literature,  paraphrasing  may 
serve  a  good  purpose.  Besides,  do  not  critics  —  and  good 
ones,  too  —  use  it  now  and  then  to  make  clear  an  obscure 
passage  ? 

One  of  the  first  essentials  to  both  clear  thinking  and  clear 
expression  is  a  sense  of  the  form  of  the  sentence.     It  is  a  unit 

9 


130     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

of  thought  as  well  as  a  form  of  thought.-^  A  sense  of  the  form 
of  the  sentence  has,  of  course,  been  emerging  from  the  broken 
g  speech  of  infancy  ;   and  the  same  inductive  proc- 

Strucuire.  esses  will  continue  to  make  it  clearer  in  the 
primary  grades.  Helped  by  the  teacher,  with  such  que  ''^ns 
as  "What  did  you  say  about  this  thing?"  or  "What  was  it 
that  you  said  about  this?"  the  conception  will  grow  more 
rapidly.  By  the  third  year  in  school,  children  can  be  taught 
definitely  that  the  sentence  has  two  parts,  subject  and  predi- 
cate. Later,  by  the  fifth  year,  at  least,  they  can  learn  to 
separate  these  parts  from  one  another  in  complete  sentences, 
and  to  see  that  a  compound  sentence  has  two  or  more  of  each 
of  these  parts,  though  it  would  probably  not  be  worth  while  to 
introduce  the  names  complex  and  compound.  The  immediate 
purpose  of  this  instruction  is  not  grammar,  though  it  prepares 
the  way  for  grammar  as  a  later  study,  but  composition,  —  com- 
position viewed  as  above,  as  clear  thinking  and  clear  expres- 
sion. The  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  sentence  is 
almost  a  necessary  condition  to  such  critical  questioning  of 
thought  and  expression  as  the  teacher  must  do  in  any  adequate 
treatment  of  written  work.  The  clearing  up  of  obscure  rela- 
tionships, the  testing  of  hazy  conceptions,  can  be  facilitated 
by  such  means.  Moreover,  the  rhythm  which  is  an  element 
of  good  writing  and  to  which  the  ears  of  children  may  be 
made  sensitive,  is  better  appreciated  when  they  have  a  clear 
conception  of  the  sentence. 

Drill  in  the  sentence,  oral  and  written,  should  be  a  regular 
part  of  the  language  work.  Imperfect  sentences  written  by 
the  children  should  be  made  better  by  the  class.  Ideas  should 
be  stated  and  restated,  until  they  are  in  good  form.  Sen- 
tences incomplete  in  predicate  or  subject  should  be  filled  out, 
loose  sentences  made  compact,  etc.  An  admirable  form  of 
exercise  is  suggested  in  a  certain  text-book  on  composition.'* 


1  It  has,  however,  been  argued,  especially  by  Dr.  E.  H.  Lewis,  that  the 
paragraph  is  the  unit  of  thought.  This  seems  to  apply  rather  to  the 
educated  mind  than  to  that  of  the  child. 

2  Goyeii's  Principles  of  English  Composition,  New  York  1894. 


ENGLISH  IX  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     \\l 


A  clear  sentence,  preferably  from  books  in  the  possession  of 
the  pupils,  is  arranged  in  parts  under  heads  as  follows,  to 
be  cast  into  good  form  by  the  pupils. 


squadron 


Predicate. 
were  ridine: 


Object. 


Subject 
Modifiers. 


stately 

of  snowy  geese 

convoying  whole 
fleets  of  ducks 


Predicate 

Modifiers. 


in  an  adjoining 
pond 


Other  valuable  exercises  are  practice  in  saying  things  in  differ- 
ent ways :  substitution  of  words,  changing  of  phrases  into 
clauses  and  the  reverse,  statement  of  contrary  ideas,  etc. 
These  and  many  other  excellent  devices,  for  which  the  present 
work  lacks  space,  may  be  found  in  the  various  text-books  for 
teaching  composition. 

Most  of  the  school  rhetorics  of  a  generation  ago  laid  stress 
mainly  upon  the  word  and  the  sentence.  But  the  importance 
of  the  paragraph  as  a  basis  of  composition  work  paragraph 
seems  now  fully  established.  It  is  the  unit  of  structure, 
thought  in  all  that  continuous  thinking  towards  which  the 
school  is  working.  Whether  the  pupil  attempt  to  grasp  the 
thought  of  a  story  or  of  an  explanation  given  by  some  one  else, 
or  to  order  his  own  thoughts  into  fit  form  for  expression,  his 
mind  must  proceed  from  paragraph  to  paragraph.  When  he 
wishes  to  make  a  single  point  clear,  in  any  degree  of  fulness, 
he  must  write  a  paragraph.  The  appreciation  of  the  paragraph, 
therefore,  implies  at  once  some  power  of  discrimination  and 
some  sense  of  unity. 

Obviously,  it  cannot  be  taught  in  the  primary  grades.  The 
very  conception  of  it  implies  the  ability  to  think  of  a  unit  of 
discourse  larger  than  the  sentence,  of  an  integral  part  of  the 
whole  composition.  When  —  and  only  when  —  the  pupil  has 
arrived  at  the  power  of  giving  a  connected  account  long  enough 


132     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

to  be  designated  as  a  "  whole  composition,"  and  is  able  to 
think  of  that  account  as  made  up  of  successive  parts,  he  can 
begin  to  realize  what  the  term  "  paragraph  "  means.  The  begin- 
nings of  this  study  may  be  made,  in  very  simple  form,  in  the 
third  or  fourth  grade.  The  pupil  may  be  telling  a  story  of 
some  experience  he  has  had.  This  story  he  can  think  of  as 
made  up  of  beginning,  middle,  and  end  :  the  circumstances,  the 
principal  event,  and  the  consequences.  His  attention  can  be 
called  to  the  similar  building  and  paragraphing  of  some  printed 
story.  The  way  to  the  subject  thus  opened,  the  discrimination 
of  the  parts  that  compose  a  piece  of  writing  and  the  noting  of 
the  essential  elements  in  each  of  these  parts  should  become  a 
frequent  exercise  not  only  in  the  English  lessons  but  in  other 
school  subjects.  In  his  own  writing  he  can  learw  to  reject  or 
postpone  ideas  for  the  sake  of  the  paragraph  unity. 

In  this  work  constant  references  to  good  models  are  indis- 
pensable. To  make  the  conception  clear  and  firm  is  a  work 
of  time,  —  a  work,  indeed*  which  the  school  is  hardly  able  to 
complete,  for  perfect  paragraphing  is  an  achievement  for  the 
thoroughly  trained  mind.  None  the  less,  it  is  to  be  worked 
for  steadily  in  the  elementary  school.  In  this,  as  in  all  other 
forms  of  training,  the  school  must  seek  and  be  contented  with 
only  approximations. 

As  a  form  of  composition  for  school  use,  the  single  paragraph 
has  the  special  advantage  of  being  short  enough  to  be  grasped 
easily,  and  long  enough  to  comprise  an  adequate  statement  of 
an  idea  ;  short  enough,  too,  to  be  read  easily  by  the  overworked 
teacher,  and  long  enough  to  indicate  the  pupil's  mental  proc- 
esses. It  is  better  to  write  often  and  well  than  seldom  and 
carelessly.  It  is  better  to  attempt  what  one  can  grasp  and 
"  think  through  "  than  to  fall  into  devious  wanderings  in  the 
longer  and  more  ambitious  task. 

The  discussion  of  paragraphs  brings  us  naturally  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  plan  of  the  whole  composition.  Should  chil- 
Making  ^\^v\  have  a  plan?     It  has  been  objected  that  a 

Outlines.  pi-^j-,  makes  the  work  stiff  and  mechanical,  that  it 
destroys  interest   and  cripples   imagination.     The    objection 


EXGLISH  IN  ELE?rIENTARY  EDUCATION    1 33 

seems  largely  sentimental.  It  seems  to  assume  that  writing 
and  speaking  are  emotional  rather  than  intellectual  processes, 
or  that  order  and  form  hamper  rather  than  facilitate  the  action 
of  the  mind.  Now  speech,  though  prompted  by  emotion,  is 
essentially  an  intellectual  act ;  and  teaching  must  bring  order 
into  intellectual  activities.  Moreover,  that  the  following  of  a 
plan  does  not  hamper  intellectual  activity  is  demonstrated  by 
the  daily  experience  of  good  teachers ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
gives  a  certain  freedom  and  confidence  to  the  pupil.  Having 
made  his  rough  outline,  he  writes  what  he  knows  upon  the  first 
topic  and  the  second,  etc.,  unhampered  by  the  necessity  of  con- 
stantly considering  where  he  "  is  going  to  come  out."  Outlin- 
ing the  subject  to  be  written  is,  like  paragraph  study,  not  in 
place  in  the  earliest  years.  It  may  begin  with  the  consideration 
of  the  paragraph  ;  it  is,  indeed,  in  the  simpler  forms  of  writing, 
the  same  thing,  and  may  be  presented  in  the  same  way. 

Perhaps  the  most  valuable  result  of  such  work  is  the  guid- 
ance it  affords  in  "working  up  a  subject,"  that  is,  either  in 
taking  stock  of  one's  ideas  or  in  gathering  mate-  Gathering 
rial.  Children  are  generally  helpless  in  both  these  Material, 
respects.  Let  us  assume  a  case.  A  topic  of  some  length  is 
assigned  for  treatment,  such  as,  say.  The  Buildi7igof  the  X.  Y,  Z. 
Railroad.  Some  information  on  the  subject  is  already  in 
possession  of  the  pupils.  Other  information  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  appropriate  places.  The  teacher  begins  to  open  up  the 
subject  by  questions.  When  was  the  road  built  ?  Where? 
Why?  How  long  did  it  take?  What  were  the  difficulties? 
This  and  similar  questions  would  result  in  the  pupil's  gathering 
a  store  of  information  which  might  be  arranged  in  some  such 
outline  as  follows  :  — 


The  Buildittg  of  the  X.  Y.  Z.  Railroad. 

I.  Dates  of  beginning  and  completion. 

II.  Reasons  for  building  the  railroad. 

I.    Productiveness  and  populousness  of  the  country  through 
which  it  runs. 


134     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

2.  Absence  of  other  adequate  means  of  transport,  or  ex- 
cessive charges  of  existing  roads. 

3.  Terminals  opening  up  distant  markets  by  connecting  with 
other  roads  or  with  seaports. 

III.  Obstacles  to  be  overcome. 

1.  Legislative  :  due  to  the  prejudices  or  lack  of  foresight  on 
the  part  of  natives,  or  to  influences  brought  to  bear  by  rival 
roads. 

2.  Financial:  scarcity  of  capital;  lack  of  confidence  in 
projectors. 

3.  Natural :  need  of  tunnelling,  bridging,  etc. 

4.  These  obstacles  overcome  by  certain  means. 

IV.  Construction. 

1.  Time. 

2.  Cost. 

3.  Influx  to  labourers,  etc. 

V.  Results. 

1.  Stimulus  to  industry. 

2.  Increase  of  population. 

3.  Decrease  of  provinciaHsm,  etc. 

Such  an  outline  is,  perhaps,  fuller  and  more  elaborate  than 
is  desirable.  It  is  given  here,  not  as  a  model,  but  merely 
to  indicate  the  possibilities  of  any  outline  as  a  guide  in 
gathering  and  ordering  ideas,  and  therefore  of  training  in 
thinking. 

VVe  now  pass  to  the  more  general  discussion  of  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  composition.  Such  preliminary  work  as  will  guide 
Preparing  ^^  student  in  bringing  to  the  surface  of  his  con- 
fer Writing,  sciousness  ideas  which  he  already  has,  in  gathering 
new  ideas,  and  in  arranging  his  material,  is  half  the  work  of 
teaching  composition.  A  barren  mind  makes  good  writing 
impossible.  Either  there  will  be  no  writing,  or  the  meaning- 
less tautology  which  only  stultifies  and  stupefies  the  writer. 
To  avoid  this  condition,  the  ingenuity  and  alertness  of  the 
teacher's  mind  must  be  called  into  play.  He  must  be  able,  first, 
to  choose  a  subject  that  has  possibilities;   second,  to  turn   it 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 35 

over  in  various  lights,  to  place  it  in  relation  to  other  things, 

until  the   class  has  been  brought  to   the   point    of  finding  it 

rich  in  material,  and,  finally,  to  stimulate  that  lively  ^  ^^ 

oral  discussion  of  it  which  adds  both  to  interest   Arranging 

_  ,  .  ,  Material, 

and  clearness.      One  phase  of  such  preparatory 

work  has  been  presented  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  upon 

the  making  of  outlines. 

Another  phase  is  the  presentation  of  good  models.  Much 
has  been  said  about  the  use  of  good  models.  Some  masters 
of  style  have  given  direct  testimony  and  advice  as  xjseof 
to  their  value.  Johnson's  famous  admonition  to  Models, 
give  one's  days  and  nights  to  Addison,  if  one  would  acquire 
certain  specific  graces  of  style  ;  Franklin's  testimony  as  to  how 
he  constantly  imitated  Addison  in  order  to  learn  to  write 
well ;  and  Stevenson's  charming  confession  of  "  playing  the 
sedulous  ape  "  to  various  writers,  are  all  well  known. ^  But 
the  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  the  kind  of  imitation 
thus  recommended,  and  the  kind  appropriate  for  the  average 
child  in  the  elementary  schools.  These  were  men,  or  boys,  of 
extraordinary  gifts,  possessing  a  power  of  analysis,  an  amount 
of  enthusiasm,  and  a  degree  of  sensitiveness  not  common. 
Their  aim,  moreover,  was  literary.  Now  the  aim  of  school 
instruction  cannot  be  to  make  authors.  It  must  be  content 
to  teach  boys  and  girls  to  write  with  a  fair  degree  of  clearness 
and  propriety.  The  imitation  of  the  fine  graces  of  style  is  in- 
expedient and  impossible  ;  it  would  only  breed  "  fine  writing," 
that  is,  fantastic  and  absurd  writing. 

There  is,  however,  a  use  for  good  models.  They  may  be 
the  best  work  of  the  members  of  the  class,  or  the  work  of  the 
teacher,  or  selections  from  good  literature.  They  will  serve  : 
(i)  To  let  the  pupil  see  the  sort  of  thing  he  has  to  do  already 
done,  and  so  get  a  general  notion  of  what  it  is  like,  and  the 
feeling  that  it  can  be  done.      (2)   To  give  him  certain  general 


^  See  Johnson's  essay  on  Addison,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets,  Franklin's 
Autobiography,  and  Stevenson's  essay,  "  A  College  Magazine,"  in  Mem- 
ories and  Portraits. 


136    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

notions  as  to  the  order  of  procedure,  —  what  to  put  first,  etc. 
(3)  To  increase  his  vocabulary  in  the  way  that  his  vocabulary 
is  naturally  growing,  that  is,  by  contact  with  better  and  fuller 
speech  than  his  own,  and  (4)  To  add  to  his  stock  of  ideas. 
It  should  be  noted  here  that  the  effects  of  good  models  are 
very  different  in  the  earlier  and  later  stages  of  elementary  in- 
struction. At  first  there  is  the  merest  unconscious  imitation ; 
later,  analysis  of  the  content  and  form  of  literature,  leading 
occasionally  to  conscious  imitation.  But  such  deliberate  im- 
itations will  be  of  infrequent  occurrence  and  slight  value,  com- 
pared with  the  influences  of  the  less  studied  sort  in  all  the 
years  of  the  elementary  school. 

One  of  the  topics  magnified  by  much  discussion  in  educa- 
tional conferences  is  "correlation  of  studies."  Out  of  the 
Correlation  heterogeneous  materials  making  up  an  ordinary 
of  Studies.  school  curriculum,  it  has  seemed  desirable  to  build 
some  coherent,  unified  whole.  Hence  the  attempts  to  bring 
the  subjects  of  the  course  into  right  relations  with  each  other, 
partly  by  placing  them  in  certain  parallel  or  consecutive  places, 
partly  by  emphasizing  certain  phases  of  them  as  of  value  in 
this  or  that  subject.  English,  being  used  in  all  the  studies, 
has  naturally  been  expected  to  supply  a  common  bond  among 
them. 

The  predilections  of  the  teacher  or  superintendent  generally 
determine  whether  English  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  handmaiden 
of  all  the  other  subjects,  or  the  queen  to  whom  they  all  bring 
tribute.  So  long  as  the  relationship  results  in  sound  instruc- 
tion all  along  the  line,  it  makes  but  little  difference  which 
point  of  view  is  adopted.  It  is  enough  that  the  teacher  know 
and  realize  that  the  teaching  of  science  and  good,  clear  orderly 
English  side  by  side  is  a  desirable  thing.  To  object  because 
either  the  English  or  the  science  is  regarded  as  of  secondary 
value  is  like  looking  for  grievances.  As  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  the  fundamental  aim  should  be  the  training  of  the 
mind  in  gaining  clear  ideas  and  expressing  them  clearly. 
Other  subjects  of  the  course  will  afford  much  good  material  for 
teaching  composition.     Lessons    in    history,  science,    manual 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 37 

training,  will  not  only  furnish  the  necessary  ideas,  but  will  also 
present  the  order  in  which  those  ideas  are  to  be  arranged ; 
that  is,  will  supply  both  substance  and  form.  Such  use  of 
material  will  also  secure  economy  of  time  and  energy.  It  is 
better  for  the  history  lesson  that  it  should  be  gathered  together 
and  written  in  the  orderly  form  of  a  good  composition,  and 
better  for  the  composition  lesson  that  it  should  be  upon  material 
already  carefully  worked  over. 

Paradoxically  enough,  the  most  difficult  of  these  relationships 
to  define  and  employ  in  its  full  measure  of  value  is  that  which 
at  first  seems  easiest  and  most  natural ;  namely,  the  Literature  and 
relationship  between  literature  and  composition.  Composition. 
In  the  very  excellence  of  the  literary  model  lies  the  source  of 
the  difficulty.  The  indifferent  model  written  by  the  teacher 
or  by  the  pupils  is  easy  to  imitate ;  but  the  simplest,  the  clear- 
est,—  that  is,  the  best,  —  of  literary  models  are  the  despair 
precisely  of  those  who  can  really  appreciate  them.  The  trouble 
lies  in  part  in  the  nature  of  the  challenge  offered.  Similar 
material  may  be  told,  indeed,  in  a  somewhat  similar  manner ; 
but  the  peculiar  something  which  makes  the  one  perform- 
ance literature,  and  the  imitations  mere  writing,  eludes  the 
grasp.  We  are  reduced,  therefore,  to  three  obvious  things  in 
our  attempt  to  correlate  literature  with  composition:  (i)  To 
find  in  it  our  material  for  composition,  as  in  the  ordinary  re- 
production of  a  story;  (2)  to  follow  the  general  plan  pre- 
sented by  the  model ;  ^  (3)  to  cultivate,  by  frequent  and 
intimate  contact  with  the  best  literature,  a  sense  of  the  beauty 
of  the  form,  which,  in  reason -and  justice,  we  can  expect  pupils 
to  imitate  only  at  a  distance.  That  is  to  say,  we  are  in  no 
different  case  with  respect  to  the  first  two  of  these  things  than 
when  we  deal  with  the  material  chosen  from  the  text-books  in 
history  and  science.  With  respect  to  the  third  thing,  we  have 
a  task  analogous  to  the  inculcation  of  fine  manners  and  good 
morals.     We  present  the  good  models  for  imitation,  we  point 


^  See,  for  example,  the  order  of  the  description  in  the  opening  scenes 
of  Tennyson's  Enoch  Arden. 


138     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

out  and  iterate  and  enforce  principles,  but  the  subtle  graces 
of  character  and  bearing  which  are  the  desired  result  may 
or  may  not  come.  Much,  very  much,  in  either  case  de- 
pends upon  the  fineness  of  fibre  of  the  teacher  and  the 
pupil. 

To  surrender  the  whole  problem,  however,  because  of  its 
subtlety  and  its  difficulty  would  be  mere  cowardice.  The  views 
Suggestions  J"^''  expressed  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  recognition 
as  to  Metiod.  qj-  j^g  general  difficulty  and  its  frequent  insolu- 
bility. The  road  to  its  solution  can  at  least  be  pointed 
out,  and  the  achievement  be  left  —  where,  after  all  presenta- 
tions of  educational  principles,  it  must  always  be  left  —  for 
the  wisdom,  taste,  and  industry  of  the  individual  teacher.  Sev- 
eral definite  things  may  be  done  to  bring  the  pupil  towards 
this  imitation  of  the  best  writing  :  (i)  He  may  be  led  to  sat- 
urate himself  with  it,  by  learning  more  and  yet  more  of  it. 
What  he  commits  to  memory,  both  ideas  and  diction,  becomes 
part  of  his  mental  equipment.  Every  one  knows  how  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  English  Bible  has  given  dignity  and  weight  to  the 
"speech  even  of  the  uneducated.  (2)  The  pupil  may  be  led 
to  see  the  force  of  precise  and  simple  diction.  Such  discrim- 
ination gives  definiteness  to  his  ideas  and  more  clearness  to 
his  speech.  A  conscience  for  right  speaking  may  and  should 
be  cultivated.  (3)  If  the  teacher  admires  the  good  things  in 
language,  and  has  the  gift  of  showing  such  admiration  in  a 
genuine  and  temperate  manner,  the  admiration  is  likely  to  be 
felt  by  the  pupils.  To  remember  good  writing,  to  recognize 
its  simplicity  and  precision,  and  to  catch  an  admiration  for  it 
may  not  be  enough  to  make  good  writers ;  but  they  will  make 
poor  writers  better  writers. 

But  can  this  be  done  with  all  pupils  ?  Will  they  all  see  the 
beauty  that  we  wish  them  to  see?  Probably  not.  It  has 
become  safe  to  say,  without  fear  of  being  called  brutal,  that 
some  children  seem  hopelessly  dull,  blind  to  beauty  and  to 
nice  discriminations :  that  is,  incapable  of  being  educated. 
For  these,  the  teacher  must  only  do  her  best,  provided  she 
does  not  neslect  the  others. 


\ 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 39 

In  addition  to  the  suggestions  made  in  the  foregoing  para- 
graphs we  must  notice  briefly  the  discussions   in  the  school- 
room of  books  read  by  the  class,  leaving  the  fuller 
treatment  of  the  topic  for  the  section  on  the  study   Literature" 
of  literature.     These  discussions  may  include    (i)      ^' 
the  statement  of  the  story  or  ideas  gleaned  from  the  reading, 
(2)  the  expression  of  judgments  upon  these  stories  and  ideas. 
Both  are  of  the  highest  value.     To  repeat  the  author's  ideas  is 
to  make  them  more  thoroughly  our  own,  and  to  adopt  in  some 
measure  his    vocabulary.     To   form   and   express   judgments, 
even   though  they  be  crude,  is  to  use  one's  mental  stores  in 
the  way   that   makes  them   of  most  value  :    classifying  ideas, 
gaining  new  ones  by  inference,  and  finding  them  more  vivid 
as  they  issue  in  language. 

In  a  former  chapter  it  has  been  argued  that  English  is  to 
be  regarded  as  one  subject,  of  which  literature,  composition, 
and  language  study  are  only  the  various  aspects.  English  one 
Against  this  treatment  of  the  subject  there  are  cer-  Subject, 
tain  arguments:  (i)  It  is  more  difficult  to  maintain  interest 
in  the  reading  when  digressions  are  made  for  the  study  of 
words  and  sentences.^  (2)  Time  and  energy  are  saved 
through  the  use  of  a  text-book  presenting  principles  well 
stated  and  examples  well  chosen.  (3)  There  is  danger  that 
important  linguistic  facts  and  principles  will  be  ignored  or 
forgotten  if  left  for  incidental  consideration  in  the  reading- 
lessons.  It  is  not  easy  for  the  most  conscientious  teacher  to 
remember  all  the  language  work  that  needs  to  be  taught,  — 
or  to  judge  wisely  what  should  be  taught, — while  trying  to 
teach  well  the  literature  that  is  read.  (4)  That  the  majority 
of  teachers  are  not  yet  sufficiently  trained  either  in  subject 
matter  or  in  the  technique  of  their  art  to  attempt  such  a 
method. 

In  spite  of  these  obvious  objections,  it  seems  that  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  the  study  of  English  should  be  brought  into 


1  Mr.  Chubb,  in  The  Teaching  of  English,  goes  further  in  deprecating 
the  use  of  the  reading  lesson  as  an  opportunity  for  language  study. 


I40    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

still  nearer  relationship.  The  teaching  of  these  subjects  only 
apart  from  the  reading  has  certain  grave  objections,  (i)  It 
overlooks  the  importance  of  training  in  the  habit  of  observ- 
ing the  forms  of  words  and  sentences.     Such  observation  is 

almost  a  necessary  element  in  learning  language, 
for  and  is  a  habit  of  most  educated  people.      (2)   It 

disregards  the  value  of  attention  to  the  niceties  of 
expression,  upon  which  depend  exact  knowledge  and  fine  appre- 
ciation. The  isolated  study  of  the  meanings  of  words  cannot 
leave  in  the  pupil's  mind  so  just  an  idea  of  their  use  as  the 
study  of  their  meaning  in  connected  discourse  ;  and  the  study 
of  sentences  has  more  significance  in  connection  with  whole 
paragraphs.  (3)  It  is,  in  itself,  less  interesting.  Knowledge 
unrelated  and  unapplied,  is  dead  knowledge  to  the  child ; 
while  knowledge  of  a  word  that  helps  to  explain  a  sentence  is 
living  knowledge. 

In  a  given  reading-lesson,  say  a  poem  like  Longfellow's 
Paul  Revere^s  Ride,  there  might  be  several  distinct  aims  in 
view.  First,  undoubtedly,  the  understanding  of  the  story. 
After  some  brief  preliminary  explanation  of  the  historical  back- 
ground, or  of  terms  and  allusions  not  likely  to  be  understood, 
the  story  would  be  read,  and  the  reading  be  followed  or  ac- 
companied by  such  question  or  comment  as  seemed  likely  to 
sharpen  impressions,  point  out  relationships,  or  heighten  the 
feehngs  aroused.  Then  or  later  (rules  must  not  be  rigid  about 
these  things ;  the  tact  of  a  wise  teacher  is  more  trustworthy 
than  pedagogical  theories)  the  language  might  be  considered. 
Lines  would  be  chosen  to  illustrate  the  points  to  be  taught. 
Here  the  punctuation  helps  to  indicate  the  meaning ;  if 
changed,  it  would  change  the  meaning  thus  and  so.  Here  the 
word  conveys  such  and  such  impression ;  such  another  word, 
resembling  this  in  meaning,  would  change  the  sense  to  so  and 
so.  Here  will  be  noticed  the  short  abrupt  expression,  leaving 
something  to  be  supplied  ;  there  the  inverted  order  for  the 
sake  of  emphasis,  or,  perhaps,  of  metre  or  rhyme ;  and  there 
the  allusion  or  comparison  with  such  and  such  associations. 
These  and  similar  matters  would  naturally  be  elicited  by  skil- 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    141 

ful  question  and  suggestion,  inviting  the  co-operation  of  the 
child,  rather  than  pointed  out  as  matters  of  information  by  the 
teacher. 

To  unify  the  work  in  language  it  will  not  always  be  neces- 
sary to  begin  with  the  reading.  The  study  may  begin  with 
the  language  end  of  the  matter,  and  find  significant  illustration 
in  the  reading.  In  either  case  the  important  end  to  be 
secured  is  that  the  pupils  shall  come  to  regard  the  studies  in 
the  mother-tongue  as  different  phases  of  one  subject,  shall  gain 
in  the  reading  work  illustrations  of  the  facts  of  the  language 
and  an  increasing  power  over  the  language ;  and  in  the  lan- 
guage study  a  means  of  interpreting  and  appreciating  the 
reading. 

It  would  be  well  to  regard  the  special  text-books  on  language 
study  as  storehouses  of  facts  and  principles  to  be  referred  to 
when  necessary  and  of  exercises  to  be  used  when  Language 
desirable.  With  suitable  exercises  and  clear  state-  Text-Books, 
ments  of  principles  accessible,  the  emphasis  could  be  thrown 
upon  the  language  as  found  in  the  reading-books  and  as  used 
by  class  and  teacher.  Care  could  be  taken  that  important 
matters  should  not  be  overlooked,  and  that  the  language  aspect 
of  the  work  should  heighten  rather  than  diminish  the  interest 
in  the  content  of  the  story. 

It  remains  to  consider  two  questions  that  force  themselves 
upon  the  attention  of  every  conscientious  teacher  :   How  much 
and  how  often  should  pupils  write?     And,  how  is   Frequency 
the  criticism  of  their  work  to  be  made  most  effec-   of^WrSe^ 
tive  ?     Several  general  principles  may  be  offered  in   ^'"'^• 
answer  to  the  first  question  :    (i)  Since  writing,  like  speech  and 
manners,  is  a  habit,  there  should  be  at  least  daily  practice  in  it. 
Such  practice  need  not  always  be  in  set  compositions.     It  may 
often  be  in  the  writing  of  some   part  of  a  school  exercise  in 
another  subject.     It  should  usually  be  short,  but  should  be 
done  with  care.     If  the   motor  activities  involved  in  writing 
are  to  be   made  easy  and  therefore  serviceable,  they  must  not 
be  allowed  to  grow  "rusty."      (2)   Since  the  mind,  as  it  grows, 
becomes  able  to  compass  larger  masses  of  material,  there  should 


142     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

be  a  gradual  lengthening  of  the  average  exercises  from  the 
lower  to  the  higher  grades.^  (3)  Though  the  paragraph  is 
the  unit  of  discourse  best  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  teach- 
ing composition,  there  should  occasionally  be  longer  com- 
positions, —  from  three  to  five  hundred  words,  say,  —  in 
order  that  the  pupil  may  gain  the  power  of  handling  larger 
masses  of  material.  Such  exercises  might  occur  once  in  two 
weeks.  These  considerations  will  have  application  in  various 
ways  according  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  teacher 
works.  If  the  class  is  twice  as  large  as  it  ought  to  be,  the 
teacher  cannot  be  expected  to  keep  the  work  up  to  an  ideal 
standard. 

The  second  question,  How  shall  written  work  be  criticised? 
is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  whole  problem  of  teaching 
Criticism  of  English.  Upon  the  value  of  the  criticism  success 
Compositions,  j^  teaching  composition  finally  depends.  Two  re- 
sults must  be  sought :  economy  of  the  teacher's  time  and  energy, 
and  effectiveness  in  the  criticism  made.  Upon  success  in  the 
„  latter  aim  depends,  in  part,  the  securing  of  the 

former.  How  then  shall  the  criticism  be  made 
effective?  The  aim  of  the  work  is  to  increase  the  pupil's 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  to  raise  his  standard  of  judg- 
ment ;  in  brief,  to  make  him  self-critical.  The  less  neces- 
sary to  him  the  teacher  becomes,  the  better  is  the  teaching. 
Hence  the  importance  (i)  of  determining  the  ordinary  errors 
and  difficulties  first  to  be  attacked.  Selecting  these  first 
points,  make  them  the  subject  of  class  instruction,  inviting 
criticism  and  discussion  from  the  class  as  a  whole.  To  go 
too  fast  is  to  discourage  and  confuse  the  pupils.  (2)  Present 
models  of  the  thing  well  done ;  make  sure  that  the  class  is 
attentive.  Require  the  doing  of  it  in  the  right  way,  that  it 
may  become  part  of  the  motor  activities.  (3)  Give  help  on 
the  new  difficulties,  but  hold  the   pupil  responsible  for  things 


1  This  principle  applies  equally  to  the  oral  composition,  i.  e.,  the  reci- 
tation. There  should  be  topical  recitations  in  which  the  pupil  is  called 
upon  to  discuss  a  subject  without  the  prodding  of  the  teacher's  question. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 43 

thcit  he  ought  to  know.  (4)  Refuse  to  accept  work  that 
is  below  the  standard  which  the  pupil  ought,  by  proper  care, 
to  be  able  to  reach.  Discriminate  carefully  between  inability  ^ 
and  slovenliness.  Treat  the  latter  as  a  grave  fault.  (5) 
Require  the  pupil  to  make  corrections  called  for :  in  case  of 
gross  carelessness  have  the  paper  rewritten  entire.  (6)  Assist 
him,  by  searching  questions,  to  clear  thinking.  Obscure  writ- 
ing is  often  due  to  the  inability  to  think  the  subject  out  clearly. 
Have  the  class  participate  in  such  discussions.  (7)  Note 
individual  difificulties ;  treat  these  as  far  as  possible  in  brief 
personal  interviews.  (8)  Be  as  keen  to  commend  good  work 
as  to  reprove  bad.  Read  specimens  of  good  work  to  the  class. 
(9)  Let  the  criticism  be  constructive  rather  than  destructive. 
Establish  friendly  and  helpful  relations  with  the  class.  To  fail 
to  do  this  is  to  cripple  the  work  hopelessly.  Writing  is  a  very 
personal  thing ;  and  right  and  kindly  feeling  between  teacher 
and  pupil  is  essential  to  the  freedom  and  confidence  that  are 
necessary  conditions  to  good  expression.  (10)  Above  all,  keep 
a  just  balance  between  the  critical  and  productive  faculties  of 
the  child.  To  exaggerate  the  former  is  to  inhibit  his  activity ; 
to  over-stimulate  the  latter,  is  to  cultivate  carelessness.  But  if 
either  must  be  in  advance  of  the  other,  let  it  by  all  means  be 
the  latter.  Carelessness  may  be  corrected ;  a  rank  and  lux- 
urious growth  may  be  pruned  :  but  barrenness  is  a  hopeless 
condition. 

So  much  for  the  criticism   from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
pupil's  welfare.     How  shall  the  teacher  economize  time  and 

energy  so  as  to  do  his  duty,  and  yet  escape  the 

.      .  ,       .  ,        -.      o  r     u      Economy, 

sanitarium    or  the  insane  asylum?     Some  ot    the 

suggestions  here  offered  are,  as  will  be  observed,  duplications 
of  what  has  been  said  above,  (i)  Attack  a  few  difficulties  at 
a  time,  and  let  those  be  typical :  concentrate  the  attention 
upon  things  that  may  be  learned  until  they  are  learned.  Un- 
der even  the  best  conditions  these  things  will  often  be  forgotten. 
But  reduce  the  repetition  of  instruction  to  a  minimum.  (2)  Use 
symbols  in  red  ink  or  blue  pencil  along  the  margin,  calling  at- 
tention to  errors  which  the  pupil  can  correct.      (3)   Have  the 


144     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

corrections  made  by  the  pupil,  then  read  the  compositions 
again.  The  second  reading  is  easy,  and  is  the  only  means  of 
insuring  the  performance  of  the  work.  The  original  work  of 
correcting  is  generally  wasted,  unless  made  completely  effec- 
tive by  the  second  revision.  (4)  Make  the  criticism  of  im- 
portant matters  a  co-operative  class  lesson.  (5)  Reject  all 
slovenly  work.  (6)  Do  not  attempt  to  read  all  papers  to 
the  sacrifice  of  a  clear  head  and  steady  nerves.  Both 
teacher  and  class  are  losers  under  such  conditions.  Select, 
rather,  a  group  of  papers  from  the  lot,  and  make  these 
the  subject  of  the  criticism  with  the  class.  The  teacher's  obli- 
gations are  serious;  but  they  do  not  extend  to  martyrdom 
for  rich  cities  that  consider  education  cheap.  (7)  Aim  to 
stimulate  the  interest  of  the  children,  and  to  promote  as 
rapidly  as  possible  their  own  powers  of  independent  self-criti- 
cism. (8)  Reserve  time  and  energy  enough  to  keep  alive 
mentally  by  the  reading  that  both  instructs  and  relaxes. 
Freshness  of  mind  is  essential.  Critical  work  involves  diffi- 
cult constructive  processes.  It  means  the  ability  to  realize 
the  possibilities  of  the  subject  upon  which  the  pupil  has  writ- 
ten, to  take  into  account  his  powers,  and  by  considering  these 
two  things,  ty  decide  where  he  has  reached  the  proper  level 
and  where  fallen  short.  It  means  reading  not  merely  for  the 
spelling  and  the  grammar  —  such  criticism  is  unworthy  of  the 
name  —  but  for  the  ideas.     How  then  can   it  be  done  by  a 

starved  and  jaded  mind  ? 

N 

VI.   English  Grammar  in  the  Elementary  Schools 

The  general  subject  of  the  teaching  of  English  grammar 
is  somewhat  fully  discussed  later  in  this  volume.^  The  pur- 
'  pose  of  the  present  section  is  to  set  forth  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  methods  that  apply  more  specifically  to  the  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  in  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary 
school. 


1  See  Chapter  III. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     145 

As  is  well  known,  there  was  for  many  years  a  reaction  against 
the  study  of  English  grammar.^     This  reaction  seems  to  have 
been  the  result  of  several  causes  :    (i)  The  instruc-   Reaction 
tion  was  begun  too  early,  and  was  therefore  both  ||^|j 
meaningless  and  over-difficult ;    (2)  The  treatment  Grammar. 
was  made  mechanical  to  the   point  of  degenerating  into  mere 
rote-work;    (3)  There  was  a  growing  recognition  that  much  of 
the    subject   was   not    in  reality  English  grammar  at  all,  but 
Latin  grammar  badly  fitted  to  the   English;-    (4)  The  claim 
commonly  made  for  the  study,  that  it  led  to  the  correct  use  of 
English,  was  entirely  contradicted   by  facts,  since  many  good 
students  of  grammar  used  bad  English,  and  many  who  knew 
no  grammar  used  good  English. 

Now,  every  one  of  these  grave  objections  has  been  fully 
sustained.  And  yet  the  subject  of  English  grammar  holds  a 
place  in  the  schools,  defended  both  by  the  practi-  j^g 
cal  teacher  and  by  the  theorist  upon  education.  Jnstification. 
The  ground  of  the  teacher's  faith  lies  in  his  actual  knowledge 
of  the  value  of  grammar  (i)  as  a  general  means  of  training  in 
clear  thinking,  (2)  as  an  assistance  in  understanding  language 
and  in  clear  expression,  and  (3)  as  a  means  of  correction  of 
some  of  the  gross  errors  of  speech.  The  theoretical  defences 
are  along  the  same  lines.  Says  Professor  Laurie  :  *  "  By  the 
analysis  of  language,  then,  you  introduce  the  young  intellect 
to  the  unconscious  analysis  of  its  own  thinking  in  its  whole 
range.  While  engaged  in  this  exercise,  the  abstract  powers 
are  so  involved  in  a  concrete  that  is  familiar  to  all  that  the, 
formal  discipline  is  not  made  obtrusive  and  distasteful.  A  boy 
who  is  intelligently  analyzing  language  is  analyzing  the  proc- 
esses of  thought,  and  is  a  logician  without  knowing  it.  And 
this  is  the  reason  why  the  study  of  language  in  its  formal  as- 
pects has  always  been  regarded  as  the  best  preparation  for  the 


*  See,  for  example,  Matthew  Arnold's  Reports  on   Elementary  Schools 
for  1861,  New  York,  1889. 

2  See   Barbour's  The   Teachitig  of  English  Grammar,  p.  4,  and   Goold 
Brown's  Grammar  of  Grammars,  second    d.,  p.  130. 

*  Language  and  Linguistic  Alethod,  Lecture  I. 


10 


146     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

logician  and  philosopher,  and,  according  to  Quintilian,  of  the 
orator  also.  Hence,  too,  it  is  the  best  preparation  for  the  study 
of  all  or  any  of  the  sciences."  ^  "  Grammar,  as  the  logic  of 
common  speech,  is  a  system  of  abstractions."  ^  "  It  is  ap- 
parent from  the  nature  of  an  examination  of  a  sentence  of 
English,  with  a  view  to  the  thorough  understanding  of  it,  .  .  . 
that  the  pupil  who  fully  comprehends  it,  has  already  analyzed 
words  and  clauses  in  relation  to  thought,  and  performed  an 
important  analytico-synthetic  exercise."  ^  A  similar  defence 
of  the  study  of  grammar  is  offered  in  the  well-known  and  able 
Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  and  has  been  made  in 
many  other  places.^  As  a  matter  of  fact,  then,  the  belief  in 
the  value  of  grammar  is  not  seriously  shaken.  What  has  been 
overthrown  is  only  the  mistaken  notions  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
subject,  and  of  the  value  to  be  derived  from  the  study  of  it. 
The  net  result  of  modern  thought  upon  its  value  may  be  thus 
summed  up  :  (i)  It  is  a  training  in  thought ;  (2)  it  is  of  value 
in  interpreting  sentences  and  in  clear  expression ;  (3)  it 
is  a  guide  in  correct  expression  and  in  certain  matters  of 
usage;  (4)  it  is  an  assistance  in  acquiring  foreign  languages. 
The  most  important  of  these  functions  is  undoubtedly  the 
first. 

The  task  of  teaching  grammar  to  young  pupils  is  not  easy. 

Its  abstract  nature  repels,  and  its  distinctions  are 
Suggestions  .  j  •  /- 

for  Teaching  sometmies  difficult.  There  are  certain  problems 
Granunar. 

which  arise  in  the  work  for  the  solution  of  which 

the  following  suggestions  are  offered  :  — 

I.  It  is  well  to  postpone  the  systematic  treatment  of  formal 

grammar  until  the  seventh  year  in  school.     It  has  been  taught 

When  to  earlier,  of  course  ;  but  the  immaturity  of  the  pupil. 

Begin.  .       ,  .    ,        , 

not  yet  arrived  at  the  stage  of  development  where 

the  powers  of  abstraction  are  active,  makes  the  work  arduous 


*  Language  and  Linguistic  Method,  Lecture  VI. 
2  Ibid.,  Lecture  VII. 

^  See  Barbour's  The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar,  pp.  22-24,  for  a 
list  of  such  citations. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     147 

and  distasteful,  if  not  futile  :  what  seems  to  be  learned  may 
not  really  be  known  at  all  except  as  a  series  of  words.  More- 
over, it  has  been  found  perfectly  possible  to  give  all  the  gram- 
mar needed  in  two  years,  or  even  in  one  year,  before  the  pupil 
enters  the  high  school. 

2.  It  is  very  desirable  that  some  of  the  elementary  concep- 
tions of  grammar  be  taught  early  in  the  course,  beginning  not 
later  than  the  fourth  year,  and  gradually  increasing  preUminary 
the  stock  of  grammatical  knowledge  until  the  sub-   Stages, 
ject  is  taken  up  as  a  systematic  study.     Beginning  with  the 
simple  distinction  between  subject  and  predicate,   make  this 
clear  by  numerous  examples.     Then   teach   nouns   and  pro- 
nouns as   names   of  things   and  persons  ;  then  verbs,  as  the 
words  that  are  necessary  to  a  siateinent,  or  assertion.     These 
must  be  made  clear  by  numerous  examples,  by  frequent  repe- 
tition.   Then,  in  similar  manner,  develop  the  ideas  of  adjective 
and  adverb,  —  that  is,  of  modifiers  of  noun  (or  pronoun)  and 
verb,  respectively,  —  making  the  conception  include  not  only 
the  individual  word,  but  the  groups  of  words  that  have  these 
functions.       Make    the    work    real    and    vital    by    keeping    it 
in  the  most  intimate    connection    with  the  general  study  of 
language ;    use    it  in  composition  and    in    the    interpretation 
of  things  read   and  studied.     If  this  body  of  knowledge  be 
acquired  and  made  familiar  through    use  by  the  end  of  the 
sixth  year,   the   study  of  formal  grammar  may  be  taken  up 
in  the  seventh  year  without  fear  of  too  great  difficulty,  and, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  with  sufficient  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
pupil. 

3,  From  the  first  consideration  of  the  parts  of  speech,  throw 
the  emphasis  upon  function  as  determining  the  class  to  which 
the  words  belong.     To  say  that  such  and  such  a  ^jj^pj^^^jg 
word  is  a  noun    used  as  a  verb,  or  an  adjective   ^P^j^^i^n^ 
used  as  a  noun,  is  a  needless  confusion  of  terms 
and  ideas.     In  English,  the  word  is  what  its  use  in  the  partic- 
ular context  makes   it.      Only  by  keeping  this  in  mind  can 
we    get    the    desired    attention    upon    the    logical    aspect   of 
grammar. 


148     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

4.  The  work  must  be  made  concrete.  Abstract  conceptions 
are  meaningless  unless  linked  with  the  power  to  render  them 

concrete.     Failure  in  this  makes  vagueness,  parrot- 

C0IlCl'6t!GI16SS 

like  iteration,  and  all  the  faults  of  merely  formal 
instruction  from  which  modern  education  is  still  freeing  itself. 
Keep  principles  and  examples  close  together.  Start  by  prefer- 
ence with  the  example,  and  make  it  clear  that  the  rule  or  the 
definition  is  only  the  formula,  the  description,  and  not  the  real 
thing.  It  is  easier,  for  instance,  to  make  clear  the  essential 
nature  of  prepositions  and  conjunctions  by  lists  of  them  in  use 
than  by  definitions.  Indeed,  a  facility  in  rule  and  definition 
should  be  a  warning  to  the  teacher  to  test  the  reality  of  the 
pupil's  knowledge. 

5.  There  must  be  frequent  repetition.    Abstract  ideas  easily 

evaporate  unless  they  are  made  part  of  the  very  stuff  of  the 

mind  :  and  they  become  so  incorporated  not 
Repetition.  ,      ,  ,  .  ,  ,      ,         ,       , 

merely  by  explanation  and   example,  but  by  long 

familiarity  and  frequent  application.  An  illustration  familiar 
to  teachers  of  mathematics  is  the  notion  of  general  quantity 
as  represented  by  letters  in  algebra  :  it  usually  comes  to  be  ac- 
cepted as  an  ordinary  and  rational  conception  only  after  it  is 
familiar ;  until  that  stage  is  reached,  explanation,  though  it 
may  allay  doubts  and  win  assent,  is  inadequate  to  make  the 
conception  real. 

6.  The  order  of  procedure  indicated  above,  that  is,  from 
the  sentence  to  the  word,  seems  to  be  easiest  for  elementary 
Order  of  pupils,  though  unquestionably  they  may  be  taught 
Treatment.  successfully  by  the  opposite  order.  The  following 
sequence  of  topics,  or  its  near  equivalent,  is  finding  its  way  into 
text-books  and  into  many  schools  :  — 

A.    Structure  of  the  Sentence 

I.    A  general    analysis  of  the  simple   sentence  into  subject 

and  predicate. 
11.    Adjective  modifiers  :  words,  or  groups  of  words. 
III.    Adverbial  modifiers  :  words,  or  groups  of  words. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     I49 

B.   Parts  of  Speech 

I.    Nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives  (including  articles). 
II.    Verbs,  adverbs. 
III.    Conjunctions,  prepositions,  interjections, 

C.    Parsing 

I.    Numbers,  genders,  and  cases  of  nouns  and  pronouns ; 
inflections  ;   kinds  of  nouns. 
II.    Comparison    of    adjectives    and    adverbs ;     inflections ; 
kinds  of  each. 

III.  Verbs  :  voice,  mood ;   inflections ;  verb  phrases ;  kinds 

of  verbs ;  participles. 

IV.  Prepositions,  conjunctions,  interjections ;  their  relation- 

ships. 

D.    Analysis 

I.    Phrases  and  clauses  :  kinds  and  uses. 
II.    Analysis  of  sentences  :  complex  and  compound. 

Now,  it  is  obvious  that  this  order  of  procedure  presents 
difficulties.  So  do  all  orders  of  procedure  known  to  teachers 
of  grammar.  That  which  is  open  to  least  logical  objection 
is  the  old-fashioned  order,  from  words  to  sentences.  But  the 
logical  order  of  a  subject  is  by  no  means  always  the  natural  or 
easy  order  of  acquisition.  And  in  spite  of  its  apparent  lack 
of  system,  an  order  in  general  like  the  above  is  more  easily 
followed  by  the  mind  of  the  child. 

7.  The  subjects  of  diagrams  and  parsing  are  fully  discussed 
elsewhere.-'  The  general  principles  there  laid  down  seem  to 
apply  with  equal  force  in  the  present  chapter.  It  Parsing  and 
should  be  noted,  especially,  that  in  the  elementary  Diagrams. 
school,  as  in  the  high  school,  the  analysis  of  the  sentence  — 
that  is,  the  analysis  of  thought  —  is  the  most  valuable  exercise 
in  connection  with  the  study  of  grammar. 


1  See  Chapter  III. 


150    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

8.  A  more  difficult  question  to  determine  than  either  the 
order  of  procedure  or  the  importance  of  parsing  and  analysis 
How  much  ^^'  ^'^'^^'^  ^"fi  how  much  grammar  should  there  be 
Grammar?  j^  the  elementary  school?  The  high  school  teacher 
wants  the  subject  finished  in  the  elementary  school,  so  that  he 
may  have  no  further  annoyance  from  it.  But  this  is  hardly 
possible,  inasmuch  as  some  of  the  distinctions  of  grammar 
cannot  be  taught  with  advantage  until  the  pupil  is  older 
and  has  learned  some  of  the  grammar  of  other  languages. 
Moreover,  the  teacher  of  English  in  the  high  school  who  at- 
tempts to  present  English  as  "  one  subject  "  can  hardly  ignore 
formal  grammar.  The  teachers  of  Latin  and  German,  also, 
would  have  the  subject  completed  before  the  high  school, 
partly  that  they  may  build  upon  certain  definite  conceptions 
that  they  have  a  right  to  expect,  and  partly  that  they  may 
escape  the  teaching  of  certain  grammatical  facts  which  it  is 
their  business  to  teach.  Unfortunately,  too,  their  own  unfamil- 
iarity  with  modern  English  grammar  often  leads  them  to  ex- 
pect of  the  pupil  a  kind  of  grammar  which  is  not  English,  but 
Latin.  The  body  of  grammatical  facts  appropriate  to  the  ele- 
mentary school  is  rather  limited.  It  might  be  summed  up 
about  as  follows  :  — 


L  A  knowledge  of  the  sentence  sufficient  to  analyze  and 
parse  it  down  to  its  single  words,  except,  of  course,  in  the  case 
of  phrases  that  are  so  idiomatic  that  they  render  analysis 
absurd. 

IL  An  understanding  of  case  and  a  knowledge  of  case 
relationships  including  not  only  the  nominative,  genitive, 
and  objective  (or  accusative),  but  also  the  dative  and  the 
vocative. 

in.  An  acquaintance  with  the  verb  in  its  various  aspects 
of  voice,  mood,  tense ;  transitive  and  intransitive  participles 
and  their  uses. 

IV.  A  knowledge  of  all  the  common  inflections  as  they 
appear  in  nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives,  verbs,  and  adverbs. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    15I 

V.  The  various  kinds  of  nouns,  pronouns^  adjectives,  ad- 
verbs, and  conjunctions. 

VI.  The  simple  rules  of  syntax,  particularly  those  whose 
violation  is  common  in  oral  speech. 

VII.  The  power  to  distinguish  between  relationships  where 
the  form  may  be  the  same  but  the  meaning  twofold,  as  in 
phrases  like  "  the  love  of  God." 

VIII.  A  brief  general  history  of  the  language,  as  to  its 
origin  ;  some  of  the  historical  facts  that  throw  light  on  present 
forms,  like  the  genitive  and  dative  cases,  the  verb  phrases,  etc. 

9.  The  choice  of  a  text-book  is  an  important  matter. 
Its  order  of  presentation  of  the  subject  is  not  all-important ; 
for  that  need  not  be  followed  rigidly.     But  clear-    -.  . 

ness  of  statement,  aptness,  interest,  and  sufficiency  Text -books, 
of  examples  are  points  of  great  consequence.  The  com- 
ments of  Professor  Sweet,  though  made  with  reference  to  the 
study  of  a  foreign  language,^  are  also  applicable  here  :  "  A 
good  example  must  fulfil  two  conditions  :  (i)  It  must  illustrate 
and  confirm  the  rule  unambiguously  ...  (2)  The  example 
must  be  intelligible  as  it  stands,  without  further  context."  The 
examples  ought,  further,  to  be  taken  from  good  literature, 
either  from  modern  writers,  or,  if  from  older  writers,  from 
among  those  sentences  whose  "  construction  has  been  imitated 
by  modern  writers."  '^ 

10.  The  correction  of  false  syntax  as  a  grammatical  exer- 
cise has  been  vigorously  assailed.     Certainly  it  has  sometimes 

been    far  from   justifiable.     But  we   believe   such  _  , 
•^  False 

exercises   may  have   their  uses.     When  the   right   Syntax, 
form  is  once  learned,  occasional  practice  in  setting  the  wrong 
right  has  the  advantage  of  sharpening  the  critical  faculties  and 
deepening  the  memory  of  the  right  forms.     Such  errors   as 
are  used   for  the  purpose  should,  however,  not  be  arbitrary " 
inventions  of  the  teacher  or  author ;  they  should   be  errors 


1  Sweet's  Practical  Study  of  Languages,  pp.  131  ff. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  134. 


152     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

which  are  actually  made  hi  the  oral  or  written  speech  of  the  class, 
or  errors  to  which  they  are  exposed  by  their  environment. 

II.  Since  the  point  of  view  in  modern  English  grammar  as 
presented  by  English  philologists  is  radically  different  from 
that  given  in  the  old-fashioned  grammar,  and  in  many  gram- 
mars still  in  use  in  the  schools,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  teacher 
of  grammar  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  modern 
point  of  view. 

VII.  Spelling 

So  long  as  English  remains  a  badly  spelled  language,  —  that 
is,  a  language  whose  sounds  are  imperfectly  and  irregularly 
represented  by  its  orthography,  —  so  long  will  the 
task  of  learning  to  spell  remain  severe.  Spelling 
was  at  one  time,  if  not  a  matter  of  individual  taste,  at  least 
a  matter  in  which  individual  variations  from  an  imperfectly 
established  standard  were  lightly  judged.  With  the  wider 
diffusion  of  common  instruction,  and  the  prevalence  of  the 
ideal  of  "correctness  "  in  English,  correct  spelling  came  to  be 
a  test  of  education,  and  with  most  people  is  so  at  the  present 
day.  When  the  school  subjects  were  few,  to  learn  to  spell 
was  a  difficult  task  to  which  were  devoted  many  hours  of  con- 
ning and  reciting  ;  now  that  the  curriculum  contains  so  much 
that  economy  of  time  must  be  sought,  English  speUing  has 
become  a  serious  burden. 

Remedial  measures  have  of  course  been  suggested.  The 
spelling  reformers  have  offered  changes  more  or  less  radical 

c«„^»,tn-i  and  more  or  less  rational.  These  have  won  but 
Suggested 

Remedies.  slight  favour.  The  new  forms  look  so  strange  ;  our 
habits  and  our  tastes  are  bound  up  with  the  old  forms.  And  so, 
though  most  of  us  are  in  theory- in  favour  of  reform,  the  weight 
of  custom  and  of  vested  interests  has  made  the  progress  of 
reform  very  slow.  We  are  beginning  to  write  program  without 
the  final  tne,  and  to  adopt  a  number  of  similar  minor  changes  ; 
but  it  is  likely  to  be  long  before  any  thorough  change  is 
effected. 


ENGLISH  L\   ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 53 

The  educationists  have,  of  course,  offered  their  theories. 
Time  spent  in  spelling-drill  is  wasted,  they  have  said.  Pupils 
who  learn  to  read  by  the  "  word  method  "  or  the  "  sentence 
method "  will  learn  to  spell  because  they  will  see  how  the 
words  look.  This  was  a  beautiful  theory.  But  its  failure 
in  practice  was  so  complete  and  final  that  it  brought  dis- 
credit even  upon  many  of  the  best  principles  in  the  "  new 
education." 

The  present  situation,  then,  is  something  like  this  :  English 
spelling  is  irrational  and  difficult,  and  likely  to  remain  so  for 
all  the  generations  in  sight ;  there  is  a  widespread  jjjg  present 
and  settled  tendency  to  judge  of  a  man's  intel-  SituaUon. 
lectual  capacity  by  his  ability  to  spell;  the  elementary  cur- 
riculum is  so  crowded  that  time  is  precious ;  and  we  have 
discovered  no  royal  road  to  spelling.  Some  things  have, 
however,  been  discovered,  that  point  out  the  path  of  present 
effort. 

1.  Special  drill  seems  necessary.  j\Iore  than  an  hour  and 
a  half  per  week  of  drill  seems  not  to  be  attended  with  a  com- 
mensurate increase  in  results.  Less  than  this  seems  insufficient 
to  produce  "  good  spellers."  ^ 

2.  There  is  a  decided  difference  in  native  aptitudes  for  the 
work.  To  some  it  is  comparatively  easy,  to  others  a  well-nigh 
hopeless  task.  Moreover,  it  has  been  discovered  that  the 
ability  to  spell  seems  to  "  run  in  families,"  that  is,  to  be 
hereditary.^ 

3.  Some  people  spell  "  by  ear,"  but  most  of  them  by  the 
eye  ;  that  is,  they  have  a  memory  of  the  word  as  it  appears  on 
the  printed  page.     To  these  forms  of  memory  must  be  added 


1  See  J.  M.  Rice,  "The  Futility  of  the  Spelling  Grind,"  FoRUM, 
XXIII.  163  ff.  (April,  1S97)  and  409  £f.  (June,  1897). 

2  This  has  been  established  in  some  studies  recently  conducted  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  E.  L.  Thorndike  of  Teachers  College.  The 
same  conclusions  were  arrived  at  independently  by  Professor  F.  N. 
Scott,  and  were  presented  by  him  before  the  Massachusetts  Association 
of  Teachers  of  English  in  November,  1901.  See  the  New  York 
Evening  Post,  November  16,  1901,  p.  12. 


154    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

the  motor  memories  whereby  the  hand  automatically  writes  the 
word  that  is  in  the  mind. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that  it  is  the  ability,  not  to  spell  the  word 
orally,  but  to  write  it,  that  is  desired.  The  spelling-lessons 
General  should,  therefore,  be  mainly  written.     They  should 

Suggestions,  occasionally  have  the  reinforcement  of  oral  les- 
sons, partly  for  the  benefit  of  those  whose  auditory  memories 
are  stronger,  partly  for  the  sake  of  the  emulation  thus  easily 
aroused,^  and  partly  for  the  better  appreciation  of  the  word  as 
an  audible  thing.  Many  words  are  misspelled  because  they 
are  never  correctly  heard.  The  two  main  objects  for  which 
to  strive  are,  however,  a  clear  picture  of  the  word  as  it  looks 
on  the  page,  and  a  readiness  in  transcribing  this  visual  image 
with  the  pen.  For  this  purpose  the  teacher  will  lay  stress 
upon  the  memory  of  the  appearance  of  the  word  ;  will  call  for 
its  reproduction  orally,  and  in  writing  after  it  has  been  seen  on 
the  page  or  the  blackboard  ;  will  urge  the  pupils  consciously 
to  get  and  hold  the  image  of  the  word  ;  and  will  be  careful 
that  new  words  are  not  merely  heard  but  also  seen  in  writing 
or  in  print. 

Rules  in  spelling  are  good  things  if  well  used.  The  rule  is 
not  the  point  from  which  to  start.  But  when  a  number  of 
The  Use  instances  under  the  rule  are  known,  the  rule  serves 

of  Rules.  jQ  j^qIj  ji^^g  principle  in  mind  :  such  are  the  rules 

for  the  ei  and  ie  combination,  for  the  doubling  of  the  final 
consonant  when  a  suffix  is  added,  and  the  like.^ 

In  a  language  whose  orthography  has  so  little  regularity, 
whatever  of  uniformity  there  is  should  be  seized  upon  and 
turned  to  account :  hence  the  value  of  learning  lists  of  words 
of  analogous  form,  like  those  ending  in  Hon,  sio?i,  cioiis,  etc. 
These  are  more  easily  remembered  if  recalled  as  belonging  to 
a  certain  group.  Fmally,  most  pupils  need  to  realize  that 
they  are  expected  to  learn  to  spell  fairly  well,  and  that  to  do 


1  The  author  wishes  to  put  himself  on  record  as  a  believer  in    an 
occasional  "spelling-match"  of  the  antique  sort. 

2  See  the  Introductions  to  the  dictionaries  for  lists  of  such  rules. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 55 

this  they  must  work.  The  teacher  can  do  Uttle  to  help  thera-: 
il  they  are  not  to  carry  through  Hfe  a  habit  of  bad  speUing  as 
a  badge  of  ilhteracy,  they  must  save  themseh'-es  by  a  hvely 
conscience,  and  a  confirmed  habit  of  being  concerned  about 
words. 

MIL    L1TER.A.TURE  IN  THE  Elementary  Schools 

Since  the  days  when,  a  generation  ago,  the  Hterature  intro- 
duced in  the  common  schools  was  generally  limited  to  the 
series  of  school  readers,  and  the  selections  learned  Literature 
for  the  Friday  afternoon  " declamation  "  exercises,  |^ hf^t^.°T} 
the  theory  of  instruction  in  literature  has  been  dis-  Permanence, 
cussed  from  almost  every  conceivable  point  of  view.  As  a 
revelation  of  beauty,  as  a  source  of  pleasure,  as  a  means  of 
introduction  to  the  past,  as  a  revelation  to  himself  of  the  per- 
sonality of  the  pupil, ^  as  a  study  of  life,  as  systematic  discipline, 
or  as  a  cultivation  of  the  imagination  —  from  these  and  other 
points  of  view  the  study  of  literature  in  the  elementary  schools 
has  been  amply  advocated.  To  enter  at  this  date  upon  any 
justification  of  its  place  seems  useless.  Literature  is  in  the 
schools  by  universal  consent,  and  is  as  likely  to  stay  there  as 
any  other  subject.  The  accepted  view  of  the  elementary 
school  as  the  introduction  to  the  environment  of  the  pupils 
insures  the  permanence  of  literature  in  the  curriculum.  For 
the  sake,  however,  of  a  proper  basis  in  discussing  the  treat- 
ment of  the  subject,  it  is  needful  to  formulate  our  judgments 
upon  its  educational  worth,  its  relation  to  other  subjects  of  the 
school  curriculum,  and  the  best  methods  of  teaching  it. 

By  literature,  we  mean  not  the  made-to-order  reading  matter 

furnishing  graduated   series  of  words  for  beginners,  nor  the 

moral  lessons  whose  sole  excuse  is  their  doubtful  jjiexest 

effect  in  securing  right  conduct,  nor  the  "  informa-   $f  Go<xi 

®     ®  '  Literature. 

tion  "  lessons  that  aim  to  unify  the  course  of  study. 

We  mean  rather  that  select  body  of  prose  and  poetry  which  the 

world  of  cultivated  men  and  women,  untroubled  by  educational 


^  See  Corson's  Aims  of  Literary  Study,  pp.  7-23. 


156    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

theories,  is  willing  to  call  literature.  Its  range  is  from  Mother 
Goose  to  Plato ;  but  wherever  it  may  lie  between  these  limits, 
to  be  literature  it  must  have  also  another  stamp  of  approval 
than  that  of  the  schoolmaster.  To  define  it  is  the  business 
of  criticism  and  sesthetics ;  to  be  at  home  in  it  is  the  teacher's 
duty. 

For  thousands  of  years  letters  have  been  regarded  as  the 
chief  —  sometimes  as  the  only  —  source  of  true  culture. 
Its  Greek   and  Roman  education  proceeded   largely 

toportanM^  upon  this  assumption.^  Chinese  education  still 
Historically,  recognizes  little  else.^  Mediaeval  literature  is  full 
of  the  same  idea.  The  Renaissance,  bringing  together  the 
literary  achievements  of  the  elder  world  and  the  best  con- 
temporary thought  and  feeling,  expressed  its  intellectual  life 
best  in  literature  ;  and  to  be  "  lettered  "  was  the  only  way  to 
be  educated.  The  study  of  humanity  through  literature  was 
the  only  true  "  humanism."  How  the  Renaissance  degener- 
ated into  the  formal  classicism  of  the  early  eighteenth  century, 
how  this  formalism  was  broken  down  by  another  intellectual 
and  spiritual  revival  of  western  Europe,  until  literature  came 
again  to  fuller  expression  of  the  human  spirit,  are  matters  of 
familiar  history.  Through  it  all,  however,  it  was  still  the 
literary  ideal,  in  whatever  form,  that  dominated  education. » 
By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  educational 
fastnesses  were  rudely  assailed  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 
The  great  achievements  of  physical  science  demanded  rec- 
ognition. They  had  established  new  facts,  not  only  regard- 
ing nature  but  regarding  man,  which  altered  the  whole  view 
of  life.  They  had  proved  the  validity  of  scientific  method 
not   only  as  an  organon    of   knowledge    but    as  a  means  of 


1  See  Monroe's  Source  Book  of  the  History  of  Education,  New  York, 
1901. 

-  See  A.  H.  Smith's  Village  Life  in  C/iina,p-p-  no  ff-.  New  York, 
1900. 

3  That  comparatively  little  of  this  found  its  way  meanwhile  into  the 
elementary  schools  is  evidence  only  of  the  failure  to  realize  the  pos- 
sibilities of  early  instruction. 


EXGLISH  A\'  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    157 

discipline.  And  then  followed  the  great  educational  con- 
troversy of  the  sciences  versus  letters.^  The  scientists  won 
their  case,  except  in  their  claim  that  science  satisfied  all  the 
requirements  of  a  liberal  education.^  The  upshot  of  the  con- 
troversy is  that  both  literature  and  physical  science  reveal  to 
us  phases  of  our  environment ;  both  train  the  mind  by  furnish- 
ing material  for  the  apprehension  and  the  judgment;  both 
develop  the  imagination  and  discipline  the  reasoning  faculties. 
Science,  however,  makes  the  larger  appeal  to  the  reason,  and 
literature  to  the  emotions.  Careful  thinkers  in  both  fields 
have  gone  further  and  pointed  out  that  the  mental  processes 
involved  in  literature  and  science  are  the  same  :  a  generaliza- 
tion and  classification  of  experiences,  in  the  one  case  ex- 
pressing the  results  in  concrete  representation  of  the  type, 
in  the  other  stating  them  abstractly  in  the  law  or  the  formula.^ 
Still  another  important  subject  has,  within  our  own  generation, 
entered  the  schools  in  the  manual  arts,  which  train  not  only 
the  perceptions  and  the  judgment,  but  the  muscles  and  the 
will,  and,  like  science  and  literature,  help  to  make  the  pupil 
acquainted  with  his  environment.  When  to  these  branches 
of  human  knowledge  we  add  history,  whose  educational  value 
is  in  most  essential  points  identical  with  that  of  literature,  we 
have  in  broad  outlines  the  scope  of  elementar}'  instruction. 

From  the  foregoing  survey  it  is  evident  that  while  the 
educational  importance  of  literature  as  a  subject  of  elementary 
instruction  is  far  better  recognized  than  formerly,  it  has  no 
such  pre-eminence  as  it  once  held  in  college  and  university 
instruction.  Nor  is  it  the  purpose  of  the  present  discussion 
to  claim  for  the  subject  any  such  pre-eminence,  but  rather  to 
show  what  its  educational  value  really  is,  and  how  this  value 
mav  be  realized. 


^  See  Huxley's  Science  and  Education,  New  York,  1894,  for  a  strong 
and  interesting  presentation  of  the  scientific  side. 

-  See  the  excellent  essay  on  "  Literature  and  Science  "  in  Matthew 
Arnold's  Discourses  iii  America. 

3  Woodberry's  Heart  of  Man,  pp.  82-94,  New  York,  1900,  and  Karl 
Pearson's  Grammar  of  Science,  pp.  34-36,  London,  1900. 


158     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

Literature  portrays  human  life,  its  activities,  its  ideas  and 

emotions,  and  those  things  about  which  human  interest  and 

emotion  cluster.^  It  presents  them  in  forms  which 
Literature  as  ^   ,  i  i       •  t      i  , 

a  Portrayal      are  of  themselves  pleasmg.     It  does  not,  however, 

rest  with  mere  portrayal,  but  presents  its  pictures 
and  ideas  in  such  manner  and  such  relations  as  to  give  them 
a  new  interest,  a  new  meaning  :  it  colours  them  with  emotion 
and  interprets  their  significance.  It  gives  the  personal  point 
of  view  of  the  author,  that  is,  his  memories  and  the  combina- 
tions he  has  made  of  them,  with  the  resultant  inferences  and 
emotions ;  ^  but,  to  be  literature  of  the  highest  order,  this 
point  of  view  must  also  be  such  as  to  be  accept,ed  by  the 
world  as  true  in  essence.^  Literature  is  therefore  a  presenta- 
tion and  interpretation  of  life, — a  "criticism  of  life,"  is 
Matthew  Arnold's  well-known  phrase,  --and,  as  such,  must  be 
of  the  highest  value  in  acquainting  the  young  with  life  as  it  is 
in  its  more  permanent  and  universal  aspects,  and  with  the 
judgments  upon  it,  the  interpretations  of  it,  and  the  emotional 
colouring  given  to  it  by  writers  of  wide  knowledge,  deep  insight, 
and  right  feeling.* 

There  is  an  ancient  objection  to  literature,  —  ancient  and, 
though    often    answered,    constantly  recurring,  —  that  it  pre- 
sents life  in  an  over-drawn,  fantastic,  and  exagger- 
Truth  of  ated  manner.    Aristotle  answered  it  in  part,  and  the 

answer  has  been  repeated,  amplified,  and  added  to.^ 
It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  what  untrained  minds  get 


^  See  the  introductory  chapter  to  Palgrave's  Landscape  in  Poetry, 
New  York,  1897. 

2  See  La  Farge's  Considerations  on  Painting,  Lecture  IL,  New  York, 
1895,  and  W.  H.  Mallock,  "  Relation  of  Art  to  Truth,"  FoRUM,  IX.  36  ff. 

^  Shelley's  Defence  of  Poetry  and  Woodberry's  "  A  New  Defence 
of  Poetry  "  in  Heart  of  Man. 

*  Ruskin's  Sesame  and  Lilies  is  a  familiar  and  interesting  presenta- 
tion of  these  points  of  view. 

5  See  Butcher's  Aristotle's  Theory  of  Poetry  and  Fine  Art,  Chapter 
IIL,  London  and  New  York,  1898;  Sidney's  Defence  oj  Poesie ;  Shelley, 
Mallock  and  Woodberry,  cited  above.  Gayley  and  Scott's  Literary 
Criticisin,  Boston,  1899,  is  a  bibliography  to  the  whole  range  of  this  and 
other  topics  of  criticism. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 59 

from  a  book  is  often  the  exaggerated  and  impossible  part, 
while  the  underlying  truth,  the  universal,  eludes  them ;  that 
their  interest  is  mainly  in  action,  and  very  little  in  a  "  philos- 
ophy of  life."  Their  judgment  of  values  in  the  world  of 
literature  is,  as  in  everything  else,  childish.  They  do  not 
know  the  difference  between  wisdom  and  folly,  between  common 
sense  and  balderdash,  between  courage  and  braggadocio, 
between  beauty  and  tinsel.  This  is  far  from  being  an  argu- 
ment against  the  truthfulness  of  good  literature.  If  it  has  any 
bearing  on  the  matter  at  all,  it  is,  a  fortiori,  merely  an  evidence 
of  the  need  of  the  sound  and  wholesome.  Cultivated  minds 
find  in  literature  (and  history)  the  most  real  and  faithful 
presentation  of  life  :  they  see  that  they  are  wiser  in  the  realm 
of  the  human  spirit  for  reading  it.^  And  this  wisdom  lies  in 
well-chosen  and  thoughtful  reading,  for  whoever  has  the 
patience  and  the  capacity.  Lowell  has  said  all  this  and  much 
more  in  one  of  his  inimitable  essays  :  "  But  have  you  ever 
rightly  considered  what  the  mere  ability  to  read  means?  That 
it  is  the  key  which  admits  us  to  the  whole  world  of  thought 
and  fcmcy  and  imagination?  to  the  company  of  sainti  and 
sage,  of  the  wisest  and  wittiest  at  their  wisest  and  wittiest 
moment?  That  it  enables  us  to  see  with  the  keenest  eyes, 
hear  with  the  finest  ears,  and  listen  to  the  sweetest  voices  of 
all  time? '"^  The  case  is  well  summed  up  by  Commissioner 
Harris  :  ^  "  All  that  man  does  contributes  to  a  revelation  of 
human  life  in  its  entirety,  but  art  and  literature  lead  all  other 
branches  of  human  learning  in  their  capacity  to  manifest  and 
illustrate  the  desires  and  aspirations,  the  thoughts  and  deeds 


1  Some  most  interesting  collections  of  the  praises  of  books  have  been 
made.  Among  them  are  Frederic  Harrison's  Choice  of  Books,  London, 
1886,  New  York,  1895;  Ireland's  Book-Lovers  Enchiridion,  London, 
1S84;  C.  F.  Richardson's  Choice  of  Books,  ^a.\io\xx's  Pleasures  of  Reading, 
London,  18S8;  Baldwin's  Book-Lover,  Chicago,  1892;  Farrar's  Great 
Books,  New  York,  1898. 

2  Lowell's  Books  and  Libraries. 

3  "Why  Art  and  Literature  Ought  to  be  Studied  in  Elementary 
Schools,"  by  W.  T.  Harris,  Educational  Review,  XHL  325,  April, 
1897. 


l60    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

of  mankind.  Hence  the  educational  value  of  these  things. 
In  the  presence  of  the  conflict  of  moral  ideas,  the  struggle  of 
passion  against  what  is  rational,  the  attacks  of  sin  and  crime 
on  the  divine  order  of  the  world,  all  that  is  deepest  in  human 
character  is  manifested.  Art  and  literature  portray  these 
serious  collisions,  and  like  the  mountain  upheavals  that  break 
and  tilt  up  the  strata  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  and  reveal  to 
the  geologist  the  sequence  of  the  formations  from  the  most 
primitive  to  the  most  recent,  so  these  artistic  situations  reveal 
to  all  men  the  successive  strata  in  the  evolution  of  human 
emotions,  ideas,  and  actions.  Thereby  the  single  individual 
comes  to  know  the  springs  of  action  of  his  fellow-men."  The 
objection  that  mere  knowledge  of  books  does  not  bring  knowl- 
edge of  life  must  be  admitted.  Other  experience,  contact 
with  life  in  other  ways,  is  also  necessary.  But  it  is  just  such 
an  arrangement  that  modern  education  desires,  and  not  a 
monastic  seclusion  in  the  world  of  books. 

Next  to  the  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  of  life,  we  seek 
in  literature  a  means  of  training.  The  mind  grows  by  acquir- 
Mentai  ^^»  ideas,  by  the  exercise  of  memory  and  judgment. 

Training.  Literature,  containing  material  interesting  of  itself, 
and  ordered  in  a  way  that  the  immature  mind  can  follow,  is 
one  of  the  best  means  of  promoting  such  growth.  It  widens 
the  intellectual  horizon,  and  places  the  elements  that  make  up 
human  life  in  just  and  illuminating  relationships;  but  more 
than  this,  it  presents  those  concepts  and  interests  which,  far 
more  than  the  concepts  of  science  and  mathematics,  are  the 
habitual  and  essential  subjects  of  human  thought.      ,^ 

In  Matthew  Arnold's  essay  already  cited  ^  there  is  a  clear 
and  vigorous  insistence  on  two  important  elements 
in  our  nature  which  are  satisfied  by  literature  :  the 
sense  of  beauty  and  the  sense  of  conduct.  Most  children  have 
a  sense  of  beauty  ;  it  would  be  rash  to  say  that  all  do.  Liter- 
ature, particularly  stories,  is  one  of  the  earliest  pleasures  that 
they  find  when  they  begin  to  come  into  possession  of  an  intel- 


i  Literature  and  Science. 


EXGLISH  IX  ELEMEXTARY  EDUCATIOX    l6l 

lectual  kingdom.  We  hear  much  of  the  pleasures  of  reading.  A 
very  little  analysis  of  the  phrase  shows  that  they  are  of  many 
kinds.  There  is  the  pleasure  that  comes  from  the  normal  func- 
tioning of  ourminds,  the  pleasure  of  mere  mental  activity;  the 
pleasure  that  arises  from  the  sense  of  power  or  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  ;  the  pleasure  in  beauty  of  picture  or  in  exquisite 
phrasing;  the  pleasure  in  high  ideals  inspiring  generous  emo- 
tions, etc.  All  of  these  pleasures  are  present  more  or  less  to  the 
child  in  his  reading,  but  none  of  them  quite  so  much  as  the 
delight  of  entering  into  a  world  of  beauty,  a  world  of  the  imagi- 
nation, henceforth  his  own  world.  In  Tennyson's  A  Dream  of 
Fair  Woinen  and  Recollections  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  in 
Keats's  sonnet  On  First  Looking  into  Chapman' s  Homer,  we 
have  two  poets'  records  of  what  such  pleasure  meant  to  them. 
Though  it  means  less  to  the  less  gifted,  its  value  is  never  to 
be  ignored.  It  is  an  overstrenuous  view  of  life  and  education 
which  depreciates  pure  pleasure  of  any  sort.  The  beauty  of 
the  world  of  ''  once  upon  a  time,"  where  nothing  was  wrong  — 
or,  if  wrong,  was  picturesquely  so  and  spectacularly  punished 
—  where  something  was  always  happening,  where  the  skies 
were  always  blue  and  the  woods  were  always  green,  is,  it  may 
be,  an  elementary  type  of  beauty.  But  it  pleases  the  child 
and  helps  to  develop  his  taste.  His  admiration,  if  properly 
fed,  grows  until  it  takes  in  higher  forms  of  beauty,  passing 
easily  and  gradually  from  the  simple  to  the  higher  sesthetic 
pleasures. 

It  is,  we  believe,  idle  to  claim  that  all  pupils  can  be  brought 
to  these  higher  artistic  pleasures.  Nature  has  put  up  the 
barriers  against  many  of  them.  But  it  is  the  business  of  the 
school  to  proceed  as  if  these  barriers  were  not :  to  bring 
before  the  children  the  best  literature  they  can  understand. 
To  "  foster  the  sense  of  beauty,"  the  source  of  some  of  our 
highest  pleasures,  and  a  safeguard  against  many  of  the  lowest 
pleasures,  is  one  of  the  cardinal  duties  of  the  elementary 
school. 

The  third  function  of  literature  as  a  school  subject  is  the 
cultivation  of  the  moral  sense,  "  the  sense  of  conduct."     On 

II 


1 62    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

this  subject  it  is  easy  to  go  too  far;  easy  to  forget  the  fre- 
quent gap  between  aesthetic  and  intellectual  development  on 
EtMcai  Value.  ^^^  °"^  \^?iri^,  and  the  will  to  do  right  on  the  other. 
Many  of  the  pleas  for  literature  as  moral  salvation 
seem  purely  sentimental.  But  that  some  of  the  elements  of 
good  literature  make  for  morality  is  beyond  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt. 

(i)  Literature  supplies  "  the  expulsive  power  of  a  higher 
emotion."  The  mind  filled  with  the  beautiful  ideals  of  hterature 
is  less  open  to  the  sordid  temptation  of  gain,  to  the  pettiness 
of  spite  and  gossip,  to  the  seductions  of  sensuality.  Every 
mind  will  have  its  treasure-house  of  pleasant  images.  It  is 
well  for  the  child  if  they  be  of  such  materials  as  are  supplied 
by  Irving,  Scott,  Tennyson,  and  Stevenson.  At  a  certain  stage 
of  development,  generally  between  twelve  and  sixteen,  the  en- 
largement of  the  imagination  through  reading  goes  on  very 
rapidly.  The  inner  life  expands  as  in  no  period  since  infancy. 
The  importance  of  the  elements  that  enter  into  this  expansion, 
coincident  as  it  is  with  the  growth  into  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, can  hardly  be  overestimated.-' 

(2)  In  addition  to  this,  good  literature  supplies  good  ideals. 
of  conduct,  —  makes  the  good  attractive  and  the  base  ugly. 
Imitation  is  the  strongest  impulse  to  action  in  childhood,  and 
admiration  is  the  strongest  incentive  to  imitation.  How  readily 
children,  especially  those  who  have  good  imaginations  and 
are  therefore  most  subject  to  enticement  and  most  worth 
saving,  imitate  their  favourite  heroes,  is  well  known.  A  good 
story  is  worth  a  dozen  good  precepts.  The  immediate  power 
of  a  right  ideal  well  presented  in  a  story  has  often  been 
shown.  2 


1  A  series  of  interesting  investigations  made  by  Professor  J.  E.  Russell 
revealed  the  fact  that  at  this  period  the  increase  in  the  reading  habit  was 
extremely  rapid  ;  and  that  where  good  literature  was  not  obtainable, 
boys  and  girls  read  not  only  stuff  that  was  worthless  from  its  vacuity,  but 
much  that  was  positively  and  dangerously  bad. 

2  The  Romans  knew  the  full  value  of  this  ;  hence  their  use  of  heroic 
traditions.     See  Monroe's  Source  Book  of  the  History  of  Education. 


ENGLISH  IX  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 63 

(3)  While  our  modern  philosophy  may  not  accept  the 
Socratic  doctrine  that  to  know  right  is  to  do  right,  it  is  unde- 
niable that  right  knowing  is  necessary  to  right  doing,  and  that 
just  views  "  make  for  righteousness."  Now,  good  literature, 
as  we  have  already  shown,  seeks  to  present  the  phenomena  of 
life  in  just  and  true  relations.  To  come  to  know  good  litera- 
ture is  to  see  truly  and  fairly;  to  get  beyond  and  outside  of 
one's  narrow  personal  point  of  view,  and  see  things  as  they 
are  to  all  men.  Such  an  attitude  cannot  fail  to  increase  respect 
for  the  rights  of  others. 

(4)  The  emotional  element  of  literature  lies  close  to  the 
springs  of  conduct.  The  clenched  hand,  the  sigh,  the  tear,  that 
the  story  calls  forth  are  due  to  the  same  emotion  that  prompts 
the  generous  action.  The  results  in  conduct  are  various.^  The 
boy  may  start  to  fight  the  Indians  ;  the  sentimental  girl  may  weep 
over  the  troubles  of  a  fictitious  heroine  and  leave  the  house- 
hold duties  to  her  mother ;  and  the  thoughtful  reader  may  be 
led  to  speak  a  kindlier  word,  or  interfere  in  some  case  of  op- 
pression or  brutality.  The  emotion  unexpressed  in  action,  we  1 
are  told,  tends  to  weaken  the  fibre  of  character,  to  enervate 
the  will.  Is  not  this  one  of  the  specious  half-truths  that  lead 
us  astray  because  they  sound  so  well  ?  Must  we  rush  to  action, 
Quixote-like,  whenever  we  have  an  emotion?  What  a  tangled 
and  disheartening  place  the  world  would  soon  come  to  be, 
especially  to  children,  if  they  acted  on  this  rule  !  The  truth 
seems  rather  to  be,  that  although  emotion  habitually  escaping 
in  the  sigh  and  tear  alone  results  in  such  characters  as  that  of 
the  sentimental  and  inactive  girl,  yet  our  minds  are  capable  of 
storing  up  emotions  through  which  our  characters  become 
gradually  changed.  So  at  least  some  of  our  own  poets  have 
said,  —  poets  who,  like  Wordsworth,  had  observed  and  medi- 
tated deeply  upon  the  human  heart.  Moreover,  morality  is  as 
much  a  matter  of  inhibition  as  of  action.  The  one  whose 
mind  is  softened  by  pity  and  guided  by  reason  is  likely  to  be 
considerate  of  others,  /.  e.,  moral. 


1  James,  Talks  to  Teachers,  Chapter  XVI.,  New  York,  \\ 


1 64    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

The  study  of  literature  in  tlie  elementary  schools  is  to  be 
conducted,  then,  with  reference  to  these  foregoing  aims : 
Wider  knowledge  of  life,  mental  training,  aesthetic  pleasure,  and 
the  cultivation  of  the  moral  sense. 

We  now  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  problems  involved 

in  the  teaching  of  literature.     We  are  met  at  the  outset  by  a 

jt^jj  very     interesting    question :     Can    Uterature     be 

Literature  tai/c'ht?  Some  ingenious  arguments  have  been 
be  Taught?  '^  o  a 

offered  to    show  that  it  cannot.^     Literature,  we 

are  told,  is  a  thing  of  the  spirit,  of  the  emotions,  intangible, 
elusive,  evanescent  under  the  light  of  analysis  like  the  dew- 
drop  under  the  sun.  Examples  of  ludicrous  failures  to  im- 
part the  spirit  of  literature  could  be  gathered  in  every  school. 
But  these  would,  we  believe,  only  prove  that  literature  had 
not  been  well  taught  in  those  instances. 

One  element  in  literature  is  the  intellectual.  It  includes 
the  meaning  of  the  words,  the  meaning  of  the  sentences,  the 

^      ,  relation   of  parts  to  each  other  and  to   the  whole 

knowledge. 

piece,   and  the  general    thought   involved    in   the 

whole.  These  are  matters  indisputably  within  the  scope  of 
ordinary  teaching.  The  pupil  may  be  told  these,  or  led  to  dis- 
cover them  ;  he  may,  moreover,  be  examined  upon  them,  so 
that  the  most  exacting  standard  can  be  satisfied. 

The  other  element  in  literature  is  concerned  with  the 
vaguer  province  of  taste  and  feeling.  These  are  often  subtle, 
Taste  and  intangible,  elusive.  An  intellectual  grasp  of  the 
Feeling.  ideas  does  not  insure    the    resultant   complex  of 

emotions  that  go  with  full  appreciation.  The  book  may  be 
understood,  and  yet  seem  dull.  To  secure  results  in  this  field 
is  at  once  difficult  and  essential  to  true  success  in  teaching 
literature.  But  we  must  believe  that  it  can  be  done  because 
it  often  is  done.  To  help  the  pupil  get  both  the  thought  and 
the   feeling,  to  supply  him  with  the  necessary  associations  or 


1  See  J.  Churton  Collins  on  The  Study  of  Literature,  London,  1S91,  a 
discussion  on  the  question,  Can  Literature  he  Taught?  by  Andrew  Lang, 
in  The  Illustrated  London  News,  and  a  reply  by  Professor  Brander 
Matthews  in  The  Educational  Review,  April,  1892. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 65 

the  materials  out  of  which  to  make  them  for  himself,  to  show 
him  the  beauty  of  form,  the  fitness  of  phrase  and  the  music  of 
language,  —  in  other  words,  to  help  him  not  merely  to  under-  - 
stand  but  to  appreciate,  —  is  part  of  the  teacher's  work  in 
teaching  literature.  We  have  said  that  taste  and  emotion  are 
subtle  things  ;  and  their  subtlety  appears  not  less  in  their  origin 
and  growth  than  in  their  essence.  The  atmosphere  of  the 
school,  its  standards  and  ideals ;  the  personality  of  the  teacher, 
his  attitude  towards  things  beautiful  and  good  ;  all  these  enter 
into  the  sum  of  impressions  that  go  to  form  the  child's  tastes 
and  emotions ;  and  in  no  part  of  the  school  work  do  they 
count  for  so  much  as  in  the  hours  devoted  to  literature.  To 
be  strong  without  being  crude,  to  be  gentle  without  being 
weak,  to  be  sensitive  to  beauty  without  being  sentimental,  and, 
above  all,  to  be  able  tactfully  to  show  these  characteristics  in 
the  most  human  of  the  school-room  subjects,  the  lesson  in 
literature,  is  to  have  the  first  and  best  means  of  success.  Taste 
and  feeling  are  associative,  contagious.  What  the  strong 
teacher  has  to  give,  most  of  his  pupils  will  get ;  what  he  sees 
and  feels  they  may  be  led  in  part  to  see  and  feel.  But  they 
will  see  and  feel  in  varying  degrees  ;  some  of  them  much,  some 
little  or  none.  The  aesthetic  faculties  are  in  general  sooner 
reached  by  literature  than  by  other  forms  of  art,  —  pictures 
possibly  excepted.  But  not  every  pupil  will  enjoy  the  same 
literature,  or  be  helped  to  enjoy  it  by  the  same  teacher.  If  the 
sum  of  failures  be  small,  the  work  will  have  been  well  done. 

When  the  teacher  confronts  the  class  with  a  poem  or  story 
to  be  taught,  the  question  he  must  answer  is.  What  shall  I  do 
with  it?  The  question  must  concern  not  only  the  given  piece 
of  literature,  but  the  given  class  ;  it  may  therefore  be  restated. 
How  shall  I  bring  this  class  to  understand  and  appreciate  this 
piece  of  literature?     The  answer  is  many-sided. 

I.  Literature  is  a  thing  for  the  ear  as  well  as  for  the  eye; 
indeed,  it  was  originally  a  thing  only  for  the  ear.     This  fact 
leads  to  several  conclusions.     ^  i )  Much  can  and   qj-^i 
should  be  read  aloud  to  the  children  which  they   Literature: 
cannot  yet  read  for  themselves.     A  class  of  ten-year-olds  can 


1 66    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

follow  Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  King,  Scott's  novels,  Macaulay's 
ballads,  and  many  other  things  whose  difficulties  of  thought 
Easy  to  ^^^^  diction  are  overcome  and  whose  substance  is 

Understand,  rendered  real  and  lifelike  by  the  teacher's  oral 
renderings. 

(2)  The  pleasures  of  literature  are  enhanced  by  the  culti- 
vation of  the  ear.  The  rhythms  of  verse  and  prose,  the  fitness 
Trains  the  between  the  sound  and  the  idea,  often  escape  the 
^^'  child  unless  he  hears  them.  He  has  not  learned 
to  read  literature  until  he  has  come  to  hear  the  sound  while  he 
reads  silently.  And  the  necessary  equipment  for  this  feat  is  a 
full  memory  of  the  sounds  of  literary  pieces.  Naturally  the 
more  resonant  types  of  literature  are  the  best  for  the  early 
years.  The  rhythms  of  the  nursery  rhymes,  and  of  heroic 
poems  like  Burns's  Bannockburn,  Campbell's  Ye  Mariners 
of  England,  Browning's  Ho7v  they  Brought  the  Good  News 
fro?!i,  Ghent  to  Aix,  and  Tennyson's  The  Charge  of  the  Light 
Brigade  are  a  better  introduction  to  rhythmic  writing  than 
are  the  subtler  forms  of  Shelley  and  Milton. 

(3)  The  oral  reading,  either  by  the  teacher  or  by  the 
pupils,  is  a  good  means  of  passing  in  review  the  whole  poem, 

and  seizing  it  as  a  single  unity,  after  it  has  been 

Grasping  the  studied  in  detail.  It  is  also  of  frequent  value  in 
Whole.  ^ 

arousing    interest  before  the  closer  study  begins. 

Many  people  owe  their  first  real  appreciation  of  literature  to 

some  good  reader. 

2.  The  mere  presentation  of  an  object  is  not  the  whole  of 

teaching.     A  class  in  biology  might  find  the  sight  of  a  crayfish 

Literature  a     ^^^^  interesting,  but  could  hardly  be  said  to  have 

st^di^d"''^       studied  the  crayfish  until  it  had  learned  something 

of  its  anatomy,  its  habits,  and  its  general  biological 

relationships.     Neither  is  a  piece  of  literature  known  until  the 

relation  of  its  parts  is  comprehended,  and  the  general  ideas  or 

feelings  it  is  meant  to  convey  appreciated.     In  a  given  piece 

of  literature  there  are  words  to  be    learned,    pictures  to  be 

formed  in  the  imagination,  structure  to  be  considered,  allusions 

to  be  understood  and  appreciated,  figures  of  speech  to  be  felt 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 67 

and  comprehended,  a  fundamental  notion  to  be  grasped,  com- 
parisons with  other  mental  possessions  to  be  made,  and,  in 
growing  degree  as  we  pass  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  grades, 
taste  and  critical  judgment  to  be  cultivated. 

(i)  Reading  must  begin  with  an  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  the  words.  If  the  words  that  are  new  or  that  sug- 
gest strange  or  incomprehensible  ideas  are  so  many  ^j^^ 

as  to  bring  discouragement,  something  simpler  must  Meanings 
°  o  '  01  of  Words. 

be  chosen.     The  meanings  of  the  words  are  often 

given  before  the  piece  is  read.     This  is  well,  if  there  are  not 

many  new  words  to  be  given.     On  the  other  hand,  anything  new 

is  better  remembered  if  learned  just  at  the   point  where  it  is 

needed  ;  and  the  habit  of  looking  for  the  meanings  of  words  — 

partly  by  conjecture  from  the  context,  partly  by  reference  to 

the  dictionary  —  should  be  begun  early.     The  insidious  habit 

of  guessing  at  a  word  and   "  letting  it  go  at  that  "  is  a  vice  of 

thousands  of  otherwise  thoughtful  readers.     When  new  words 

are  met,  they  are  to  be  learned  in  their  sound,  in-their  written 

form,  and  in  their  application ;   in  the  later  grades  it  is  often 

useful  and  interesting  to  learn  their  origin. 

(2)   Most  of  our  literature  is   more  or  less  allusive.     The 

point  of  many  a  good  thing  is  lost  to  us  if  we  do  not  get  the 

allusion  involved.     Sometimes  it  is  enough  to  know  ^^ 

The 
the  origin  and  significance  of  an  allusion  :  as,  for  Treatment 

,      .  ,  ■  ,,  TT     ,  of  Allusions. 

example,  m  such  saymgs   as  "  He  has  an  axe  to 

grind,"  or  "  He  has  paid  too  dear  for  his  whistle."  In  such 
cases  a  simple  explanation  of  the  meaning  is  sufficient.  But 
there  are  other  allusions,  common  in  our  best  literature,  which 
are  not  so  easily  dealt  with  ;  allusions  which  are  memories 
either  of  scenes  from  literature  or  history,  or  of  the  ideas  and 
phrases  of  the  great  masters  of  English  literature.  Echoes  of 
history,  of  classic  and  Norse  mythology,  of  folk-tale  and  fable, 
of  romantic  story,  of  the  Bible  and  Shakspere  and  Milton  and 
all  our  other  great  literary  storehouses,  meet  us  everywhere. 
To  understand  the  passages  in  which  they  occur  it  is  generally 
necessary  to  know  the  allusion.  But  to  appreciate  the  pas- 
sages, that  is,  to  get  the  feeling  that  they  should  arouse,  to  en- 


1 68     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

joy  them  as  a  blending  of  old  and  new,  with  a  background  of 
memory  and  emotion,  one  should  have  known  the  allusion 
before,  and,  if  possible,  in  its  original  place.  For  example,  the 
reader  has  his  pleasure  doubled  if  he  reads  such  lines  as 

"  In  teacup  times  of  hood  and  hoop 
Or  when  the  patch  was  worn,"i 

with  full  memories  of  the  manners  of  the  eighteenth  century ; 
or  Milton's  invocation  at  the  beginning  of  Paradise  Lost, 
with  full  memories  of  the  English  Bible.  Such  reading  at  its 
best  is  the  result  of  ripe  culture ;' but  the  beginnings  may  be 
made  in  the  elementary  school.  It  is  well  to  make  references 
to  what  the  children  already  know ;  to  associate  the  new  thing 
they  read  with  the  same  idea  or  the  same  feeling  met  elsewhere  ; 
to  get  the  pupils,  in  short,  to  read  in  this  associative  frame  of 
mind. 

The  peculiar  difficulty  of  the  task  of  cultivating  such  ap- 
preciation is  apparent  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  Our 
pleasure  in  these  allusions  comes,  as  we  have  already  said,  in 
associating  the  old  with  the  new.  Now,  to  the  child,  it  is 
almost  all  new ;  his  stock  of  memories  is  small.  And  he,  no 
more  than  we,  takes  pleasure  in  the  allusion  just  learned.  He 
learns  it  as  a  fact,  briefly  given,  without  power  to  arouse  his 
imagination  or  his  feelings  :  the  allusion  is  explained,  and  he 
comprehends  but  does  not  enjoy.  But  the  teacher  is  building 
for  the  future :  when  the  same  allusion  again  occurs,  it  comes 
as  a  memory,  bringing  the  pleasure  both  of  recognition  and  of 
former  associations.  Those  allusions,  however,  which  are 
learned  not  as  allusions,  but  which  have  first  been  known  in 
their  original  place  in  history  or  literature,  are  the  best  appre- 
ciated. The  boy  who  has  read  the  stories  of  the  Round  Table 
or  the  ballads  of  Macaulay  will  better  appreciate  a  reference 
to  Launcelot  or  Horatius  than  he  who  has  only  looked  up  the 
names  in  a  book  of  reference.  ^In  this  as  in  so  many  educa- 
tional  problems,  we  must   remember   that   we    are   working 


^  From  Tennyson's  The  Talking  Oak. 


ENGLISH  IX  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    169 

towards  a  remote  end,  through  many  imperfect  results,  and. 
that  we  cannot  make  a  "  clean  sweep  "  of  the  ground  as  we  go^ 

(3)  Children  are  serious  and  literal.  The  jesting  of  adults 
often  seems  foolish  to  them ;  it  is  not  their  kind  of  play. 
Figures  of  speech  often  seem  absurd  and  useless  Figures  of 
contradictions.  But  the  ability  to  comprehend  Speech, 
figurative  language  must  be  part  of  their  intellectual  training. 
Analysis,  classification  and  naming  of  figures  of  speech,  even 
in  the  upper  grades,  seem  useless  if  not  hopeless.  What  is 
needed  is  the  ability  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the  figure. 
To  this  end  the  teacher  will  sometimes  interpret  the  figure, 
sometimes  have  the  children  interpret  it,  point  out  the  respect 
in  which  the  comparison  holds,  and  state  the  idea  in  Hteral 
language.  Further  than  this  it  seems  undesirable  to  go  in  the 
elementary  schools. 

(4)  Galton  pointed  out  ^  a  number  of  years  ago  that  the 
untrained  mind  thinks  largely  in  terms  of  pictures.  The 
greatest  pleasure,  if  not  the  greatest  profit,  that  .jj^g 
children  have  in  reading  is  in  the  mental  pictures  Imae^iation. 
of  scenes  and  action.  For  this  reason,  such  books  as  The 
Arabian  Nights  and  Robinson  Crusoe  remain  perennially  fresh 
and  new.  Nor  does  this  power  of  picturing  what  one  reads 
ever  lose  its  value  for  the  adult.  The  material  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  artist,  the  writer,  the  scientist, 
and  the  man  of  affairs.  The  trained  mind  may  come  to  think 
less  in  pictures  and  more  in  general  terms  ;  but  it  will  still  owe 
much  of  its  pleasure  and  of  its  effectiveness  in  creative  work 
to  the  imagination.  From  yet  another  point  of  view  than  that 
of  aesthetic  pleasure  or  creative  efficiency,  the  vividness  of  the 
image  is  of  the  highest  importance,  ia^  The  imagination  is 
the  readiest  means  of  reaching  the  emotions.  Therefore  the 
pictures  that  are  left  in  the  imagination  by  good  literature  are 
a  better  stimulus  to  right  action,  a  more  potent  cause  of  good 
taste  than  are  the  abstract  and  reasoned  formulae  of  instruction. ) 
{b)  That  which  definitely  impresses  the  memory  as  a  picture 


1  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  New  York,  1883. 


lyo    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

is  better  remembered  than  are  the  analytical  and  critical  judg- 
ments deduced  from  the  study  of  literature,  {c)  In  growing 
minds  the  memories  already  stored  up  come  to  have  new 
applications  and  new  significance.  If  the  story  is  remembered 
merely  as  an  ethical  teaching  of  a  certain  sort,  it  is  not  likely 
ever  to  take  on  new  meaning ;  but  if  it  is  remembered  as  a 
story,  that  is,  as  a  representation  of  some  fragment  of  the 
drama  of  human  life,  it  remains  there  to  produce  new  emotions 
and  to  stimulate  new  inferences  as  the  mind  becomes  enlarged 
by  new  experience.  For  example,  the  memory  of  Robinson 
Crusoe's  single-handed  fight  with  nature  means  something  to 
the  boy,  but  much  more  to  the  man  who  has  had  a  decade  of 
the  struggle  for  a  foothold  in  the  world. 

The  formation  of  the  picture  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  first 
things  to  be  looked  to  in  teaching  literature.  Sometimes  the 
Filling  out  pupils'  efforts  need  to  be  supplemented  by  a  sug- 
a  Scene.  gestion  from  the  teacher,  by  some  artist's  repre- 

sentation of  the  scene,  or  by  some  other  means  which  may 
help  the  class  to  see  more  vividly.  Suppose  they  are  reading 
the  tournament  scene  from  Jva?ihoe.  It  will  seldom  be  enough 
merely  to  have  the  scene  read.  The  arrangement  of  the  lists, 
the  positions  of  the  combatants  and  the  spectators,  the  armour 
and  the  gay  costumes  glittering  in  the  sunlight,  the  successive 
steps  of  the  action,  and  all  the  details  in  that  rich  and  pic- 
turesque scene  should  be  inquired  about  by  the  teacher  and 
talked  of  freely  by  the  class.  An  outline  sketch  drawn  on 
the  blackboard  will  give  a  basis  for  the  topography  of  the 
picture.  In  general,  such  detailed  discussion  is  not  only 
useful  in  helping  the  pupils  to  get  the  scene  fully,  but  is  an 
exercise  which  will  give  the  keenest  pleasure  and  stimulate 
the  liveliest  intellectual  activity. 

In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  discuss  the  place  of 
illustrative  material.  If,  as  has  been  asserted,  the  power  to 
ninstrative  ^o^"^  ^he  picture  is  the  condition  of  enjoyment  of 
Material.  ^j^g  scene,  we  must  take  account  of  the  stock 
of  memories  which  the  pupils  have  and  out  of  which  they  are 
to  make  the  new  picture.     Obviously  there  are  wide  differ- 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     I /I 

ences   in  their   mental  outfits.     The   observant    country  boy 
would  need  no  help  to  see  Whittier's  Barefoot  Boy  or  Bryant's 
Water/owl  except  the  stimulating  questions   of  the  teacher. 
But  the  ocean   to  an  untravelled  inland   boy,  or  the  scenes 
of  Snow  Bound  to  a  Southern   boy,  would    be    very  vague. 
So  the  wild   mountain  scenery  of  Scott,  or  the  masterpieces 
of  art,  or  the  scenes  of  conflict  involving  long-past  customs 
and  accoutrements,  may    lose    much    of    their   vividness    for 
lack  of  a  background   of  appropriate   memories.     It  is  here 
that  the  importance  of  illustrative  material  appears.     The  use 
of  good  and  cheap   pictures  in  the  school-room  has  steadily 
grown,   and  they  may  now  be  procured  with  little  cost  and 
trouble.     Pictures  will  not  take  the  place  of  first-hand  knowl- 
edge ;  but  they  will  do  much  to  help  the  pupil  to  a  fair  appre- 
ciation of  a   scene  made  of  such  elements  as  they  represent. 
There  is,  however,  another  side  to  this  question  which  must 
not  be  overlooked.     Literature  is  a  thing  not  only  of  the  eye, 
but  of  the  spirit.     Its  vital   interests  are,  after  all,  not  in  the 
visible  scene,  not  in  the  landscape,  not  in  the  visual  reproduc- 
tion of  the  physical  counterparts  of  vanished  heroes,  —  but  in 
deeds,  in  feeling,  in  character.     "  The  world  of  literature  is 
the  world  of  the  imagination ;  and  its  ideals,  its  activities,  its 
types  of  character  find  their  best  reflection  in  the  mirror  of  the 
mind.     It  may  help  to  give  a  sense  of  reality  to  the  scenes  of 
T/ie  Lady  of  the  Lake  to  see  a  photograph  of  Scotch  moun- 
tains ;  but  the  best  evidence  of  the  greatness  of  the  poem  is 
that  its  stirring  actions  and  emotions  may  appeal  to  a  boy  who 
has  never  seen  any  landscape   but  New  Jersey  sand-flats  or 
stretches  of  level  prairie.     The  heroism  portrayed  in  one  of 
Macaulay's    Lays    of  Ancient  Rome  may   thrill  a   boy  whose 
limited  historical  knowledge  would  lead  him  to  think  of  Caesar 
and  Pericles  as  contemporaries,  dressed  in  modern  regimentals. 
This  is  not  to  deny  the  gain  in  understanding  and  appreciation 
from  having  a  background  of  geographical  and  historical  con- 
ditions in  the  mind  of  the  reader  -^  it  is  to  assert,  rather,  that 
great  literature  is  universal  in  its  appeal,  because  its  essential 
interest  is  concerned  with  the  realm  of  the  mind  and  feelings, 


172     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

and  not  primarily  with  the  realm  of  historical  and  geograph- 
ical facA  Hence  the  illustrative  material  which  is  most 
helpful  is  that  which  presents,  like  the  literature,  the  ideal 
elements."  ^ 

(5)  A  literary  work  has  form  and  structure;  like  a  painting, 
it  has  a  definite  arrangement  of  parts  designed  to  present  its 

^  ^,  ^  ,  idea  in  the  most  effective  manner.  To  appreciate 
Tie  Stuay  01 

Structure.  this  structure  is  a  part  of  right  reading.  Ob- 
viously the  consideration  of  literary  form  has  no  place  in  the 
primary  grades.  At  that  stage  the  child's  whole  mental  energy 
is  used  in  the  effort  to  get  the  content.  He  has  no  energy  left 
to  give  to  thoughts  of  structure,  no  interest  in  such  matters, 
and  no  adequate  analytic  power ;  it  is  enough  for  him  now 
only  to  get  the  picture  clearly,  to  understand  the  idea,  and  to 
experience  the  appropriate  emotions.  Later  in  the  course,  in 
the  second  half  of  the  elementary  school,  he  can  begin  to 
consider  how  a  literary  work  is  constituted.  He  can  see  that 
a  story  has  "  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end  "  ;  that  an  in- 
cident belongs  here  rather  than  there ;  that  there  is  a  regular 
sequence  of  causes  and  effects  ;  that  there  are  various  ways  of 
presenting  character ;  that  there  is  inherent  fitness  between 
scene  and  incident ;  that,  in  short,  the  literary  composition  is 
not  a  chance  collocation  of  ideas,  but  an  organic  structure. 
Minute  and  critical  analysis  is  not  meant,  but  only  the  percep- 
tion of  the  larger  and  more  obvious  elements  in  structure. 
Such  3,  study  could  be  made  of  the  form  of  Longfellow's 
Ki?ig  Robert  of  Sicily.  The  story  falls  easily  into  the  following 
divisions :  — 

1.  The  opening    scene,    the    church,   the    chant,   and    the 
haughty  words  of  the  King. 

2.  The  change  :   his  appearance,  his  discovery  of  the  Angel 
in  his  place,  and  his  baffled  rage. 

3.  His  humiliation  in  the  various  scenes  that  follow. 

4.  His  penitence,  and  his  restoration  to  the  throne. 


Teachers  College  Record,  I.  No.  3,  May,  1900. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 73 

It  would  be  noted  that  the  setting  and  tone  are  ecclesiastical 
and  religious  ;  that  the  splendour  of  the  journey  to  Rome  is  in 
contrast  with  the  condition  of  the  deposed  King;  that  his 
repentance  comes  appropriately  at  the  solemn  festival  of 
Easter;  and  that,  as  in  the  opening  he  is  presented  giving 
defiance  to  the  Church's  teaching  of  humility,  so  in  the  end 
his  courtiers  find  him  kneeling  by  the  throne  in  silent  prayer. 
Other  points  in  the  structure  and  in  the  descriptive  details 
would  appear ;  these  are  suggested  as  typical.^ 

Or,  suppose  the  lesson  be  on  some  prose  classic,  like  Irving's 
Rip  Fan  JFink/e.  As  introduction  there  might  be  the  gen- 
eral comment  that  this  is  Irving's  treatment  of  a  legend  found 
among  the  old  Dutch  inhabitants,  or  that  the  story  is  one  form 
of  a  common  myth,  that  of  the  fabulously  long  sleep.  After 
a  first  rapid  reading  of  the  piece,  some  of  its  simpler  literary 
touches  could  be  pointed  out :  the  early  intimation  of  coming 
improbabilities  in  the  "  faery  mountains  "  and  similar  phrases ; 
the  various  points  of  view  in  which  Rip's  character  is  shown ; 
the  relation  between  this  and  his  presence  in  the  mountains, 
and  the  effects  upon  him  of  what  he  sees  upon  his  return  to 
his  native  village.  Throughout  the  story  the  well-chosen  word 
and  the  felicitous  phrase  should  be  noted,  that  the  pupils  may 
come  to  enjoy  the  piece,  not  only  as  a  good  story,  but  also  as  a 
well-written  story.  Reference  would  of  course  be  made  to 
Jefferson's  version  of  the  tale  and  his  inimitable  treatment  of 
the  character. 

There  are  many  good  essays,  like  the  best  of  Lamb's,  with 
their  quaint  humour  and  genial  tone,  and  some  of  Burroughs's, 
with  their  observant,  half-scientific,  half-literary  attitude  towards 
nature,  which  should  find  a  place  in  the  school-room.  In 
reading  the  essay  the  main  purpose  will  be  to  get  and  enjoy 
the  author's  ideas.  Study  of  the  form  will  be  limited,  perhaps, 
to  noting  the  larger  divisions  of  the  thought,  the  attitude  of 


1  For  critical  studies  of  this  sort  the  teacher  will  find  a  valuable  and 
interesting  book  in  Winchester's  Principles  of  Literary  Criticism,  New 
York,  1S99. 


174    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

the  author  towards  his  subject,  the  things  that  are  obviously 
well-said.  In  the  treatment  of  all  the  types,  indeed,  it  is  to 
be  borne  steadily  in  mind  that  the  grasp  of  the  thought,  the 
appreciation  of  the  story,  the  experiencing  of  the  emotion, — 
in  general,  the  enrichment  of  the  pupil's  mind,  —  is  the  prime 
object  of  the  work. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  assumed  that  every  literary  work  is 
perfect  in  all  its  parts  ;  such  uninformed  criticism  finds  itself 
involved  in  strange  difficulties  through  its  attempt  to  justify 
every  detail. 

It  is  sometimes  objected  that  such  work  cannot  be  done  in 
the  elementary  school,  because  pupils  have  neither  the  interest 
nor  the  ability  for  it.  Such  an  objection,  happily, 
need  not  be  met  on  a  priori  grounds.  \  It  is  an- 
swered by  the  fact  that  such  work  is  now  done  in  many 
schools,  and  apparently  with  as  good  results  in  interest  and 
intelligence  as  any  part  of  the  school  program.;  The  essential 
conditions  are  a  reasonably  intelligent  set  of  pupils,  a  commu- 
nity able  and  willing  to  buy  books,  a  properly  ordered  course 
of  study,  and  intelligent  teachers. 

(6)  From  the  analytical  treatment  of  the  literature,  as  de- 
scribed above,  to  the  critical  view  of  it,  is  but  a  step.  And  it 
-  .^   .  has  seemed  to  many  teachers  of  sanguine  tempera- 

Study,  ment  as  if  that  step  could   easily  be  taken.     In 

certain  large  city  school  systems,  the  writing  of  "  book- 
reviews  "  or  "criticisms  "  has  become  established  as  a  regular 
school  exercise  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  The  results 
are  provocative  of  doubt.  One  can  discern  in  these  efforts 
something  of  the  hollowness  and  insincerity  associated  with 
the  school  compositions  of  a  generation  ago.  Borrowed 
phrases  involving  judgments  beyond  the  reach  of  school  chil- 
dren, and  seen  to  be  borrowed  by  the  looseness  of  their  ap- 
plication, are  too  frequent.  Hasty  generalizations,  lack  of 
perspective,  misplaced  enthusiasm,  and  all  the  vices  of  the 
"  ill-fed  criticism  "  of  the  contemporary  periodical  are  here 
in  miniature.  Formal  written  criticism,  judged  by  its  results, 
seems  to  be  a  failure. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     1 75 

And  yet  we  should  all  agree  that  we  want  to  bring  the  pupils 

to  a  proper  critical  attitude,  —  proper,  that  is,  to  their  age  and 

development.     As  the  elementary  school  ends  the 

....       r  The  Critical 

school  life  of  so  many  pupils,  their  attitude  towards  Attitude 

/  ^   f  Desirable. 

literature  becomes,  in  a  democratic  government,  a 

thing  of  national  importance  ;  for  their  attitude  towards  litera- 
ture is  closely  related  to  many  of  the  qualities  that  make  for  or 
against  good  citizenship.^  The  problem  is  difficult.  We  can- 
not rest  the  case  on  authority,  for  "  the  authority  of  criticism  " 
is  an  unstable  thing.  We  cannot  trust  to  independence  of 
judgment,  for  the  mass  of  pupils  are  barred  by  the  lack  of  time 
and  ability  from  acquiring  the  store  of  ideas  and  the  power  of 
discrimination  necessary  to  right  independent  judgment.  Out 
of  the  complexities  of  the  situation  seem  to  emerge  certain 
principles  that  may  be  accepted  and  applied :  {a)  As  the 
pupil's  mind  grows  in  wealth  of  ideas  and  in  power  of  mak- 
ing judgments,  it  is  desirable  that  he  should  turn  over,  ex- 
amine, and  put  into  words  his  impressions  from  the  literature 
he  has  read.  This  he  does  also  with  impressions  from  other 
sources,  {b)  As  his  introspective  life  enlarges,  he  will  natur- 
ally seek*  to  find  and  express  reasons  for  his  approval  or  dis- 
approval of  his  literary  experiences.  This,  too,  he  does  with 
regard  to  other  experiences,  seeking  to  justify  and  explain  them 
by  reference  to  standards  acquired  in  the  world  of  thought, 
feeling,  and  taste,  {c)  It  is  desirable  that  certain  standards 
of  judgment  be  given  him.  These  standards  will  not  be 
aesthetic  formul?e,  which  he  could  neither  understand  nor  apply, 
but  memories  vivid  and  complete  of  pieces  of  literature  con- 
ceded by  the  lovers  of  good  literature  to  be  good.  To  these 
as  standards  in  expression,  in  taste,  and  in  judgment,  he  could 
unconsciously  refer  the  new  things  that  he  reads.  As  the  pupil 
whose  home  life  supplies  him  with  memories  of  refined  and 
considerate  behaviour  has  a  basis  for  judging  rudeness  and  self- 
ishness, so  the   pupil  with  a  store  of  good  literary  memories 


1  See  the  discussion  in  President  Hadley's  Edticalion  of  the  American 
Citizen,  New  York,  1901. 


176    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

has  a  basis  for  judging  the  tawdry  and  shallow  stuff  that  he 
meets  in  print.  It  must  be  admitted  that  he  will  often  fail  to 
make  such  reference ;  that  the  memory  of  Gray's  Elegy  or 
Shakspere's  Julius  Cczsar  will  not  always  remain  as  a 
touchstone  of  sentiment  or  of  character  study ;  that,  indeed, 
even  those  whose  appreciation  of  literature  is  best  in  the 
elementary  school  and  whose  love  of  good  literature  leads  them 
to  continue  to  read  good  books  after  their  school  days,  will 
probably  never  know  much  good  literature  well  or  critically. 
But  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  to  produce  the  highest  result 
is  no  proof  of  their  lack  of  value.  The  school  must  do  the 
best  it  can  with  the  means  at  command ;  and  it  may  well  ex- 
pect in  its  teaching  of  literature  to  raise,  though  slightly,  the 
general  average  of  intelligence,  feeling,  and  morality.  And  who 
dares  deny  the  efficacy  of  church  or  school  because  it  does  not 
fully  achieve  its  own  ideals? 

(7)  Another  aim  that  the  teaching  of  the  literature  must 

include  is  an  appreciation  of  the  spirit  and  significance  of  the 

^^,  .  ^  piece  of  literature  as  a  whole. ,  Failure  in  such  ap- 
Studyofthe      ^       .     .  ^ 

Fundamental  preciation,  not  uncommon  even  in  adults,  is  due 
Idea. 

generally  to  the  lack  of  the  thoughtful  attitude  of 

mind.  Many  readers  never  ask  themselves.  Why  did  the  author 
write  this?  What  was  his  interest  in  this  theme  ?  How  did  he 
see  it?  And  yet  these  are  interesting  questions,  capable  often 
of  a  simple  answer.  Wordsworth's  pleasure  in  the  memory  of 
the  picture  oftheZ>i7/"<?rt'//i- or  of  the  Solitary  i?,?a/^r,  Whittier's 
pleasure  in  the  childhood  memories  of  Snow  Bound  or  The 
Barefoot  Boy,  Dickens's  delight  in  caricature  and  the  absurdities 
of  Pickzvick  Papers,  or  in  the  portrayal  of  generous  sentiment 
among  the  lowly,  ought  to  be  easily  within  the  discernment  of 
a  child  of  twelve.  We  do  not  know  a  piece  of  literature  until 
we  know  its  fundam^ental  idea,  its  spirit,  its  motive. 

(8)  It  has  long  been  a  practice  to  have  children  commit  to 

memory  bits  of  good  literature.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 

practice  will  never  die   out.     Provided   the   liter- 

Memonzing.      "  „        ,  ,  ,         .  ,     .       .      ,^ 

ature   is   well  selected,  —  that  is,   good   in   itself 

and  adapted  to  the  pupils'  development,  —  provided  also  that 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 77 

the  exercise  is  not  made  hateful  as  task-work,  the  custom  has 
certain  obvious  advantages :  It  enlarges  and  enriches  the 
vocabulary ;  it  cultivates  the  sense  of  rhythm ;  it  supplies  a 
storehouse  of  memories  valuable  for  their  beauty,  their  wisdom, 
and  their  ethics ;  it  makes  surer  the  possession  of  a  touchstone 
by  which  other  'literatures,  and  even  life,  may  be  judged  ;  and, 
finally,  much  that  is  thus  learned  in  childhood,  though  only 
partially  appreciated  then,  takes  on  new  meaning  and  beauty 
in  later  life. 

(9)  Recent  educational  activity  has  been  much  concerned 
with  courses  of  study,  and  what  is  called  "  correlation  "  has 
provoked  much  printed  matter.  AEnglish,  as  the 
subject  including  the  largest  number  of  topics  of 
human  knowledge,  has  been  regarded  as  the  principal  instru- 
ment of  correlationj  It  has  been  attempted  so  to  choose  and 
dispose  the  literature  in  the  elementary  school  course  that  noth- 
ing read  shall  be  unrelated  to  some  central  subject  or  interest 
then  before  the  school.  Such  a  centre  of  interest  might  be  the 
science,  the  history,  the  manual  work,  or  even  the  season  of  the 
year.  Thus  there  might  be  a  butterfly  month,  or  a  Revolutionary 
month,  or  a  basket  month,  or  a  snow  month,  in  the  year's  pro- 
gram. It  might  impart  a  little  welcome  enlivenment  to  these 
pages  to  reprint  some  of  the  schemes  that  have  been  gravely 
offered.     But  the  subject  is  really  entitled  to  serious  discussion. 

The  following  principles  can,  I  think,  be  maintained  :  — 

(^)  That  correlation  overdone  deprives  the  school  day  of 
that  variety  of  interest  which  is  the  need  and  the  demand  of 
normal  childhood. 

{b)  That  forced  and  artificial  correlation,  which  seizes  upon 
accidental  rather  than  essential  relationships,  helps  to  destroy 
rather  than  to  cultivate  good  habits  of  thought. 

(<:)  That  it  is  just  as  valuable  an  exercise  to  bring  subjects 
that  have  been  learned  some  time  since  to  bear  upon  subjects 
now  under  discussion,  as  to  range  them  side  by  side  on  the 
same  day  or  in  the  same  week.  Indeed,  the  comparison  is 
often  the  more  effective  when  one  of  the  ideas  has  become  an 
old  and  thoroughly  assimilated  mental  possession. 


178     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

{d)  That  each  of  the  school  subjects  is,  or  should  be,  of 
sufficient  worth  to  be  studied  for  itself,  in  its  own  spirit  and 
method,  rather  than  be  made  a  mere  handmaiden  of  other 
subjects. 

{e)  To  teach  the  facts  of  history  or  science  with  the  colour- 
ing of  sentiment  and  imagination  proper  to  the  literary  use  of 
these  facts,  is  to  teach  bad  history  or  bad  science  ;  and  to  make 
a  lesson  in  history  of  Barbara  Frietchie,  a  lesson  in  nature 
study  of  the  myth  of  Arachne,  or  a  lesson  in  geography  of  The 
Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  is  to  endanger  a  work  of  art 
without  getting  any  adequate  return  in  either  history,  nature 
study,  or  geography.  Such  a  misuse  of  material  merely  argues 
ignorance  and  loose  thinking. 

(/)  There  is  a  legitimate  use  of  correlation  in  literature, 
which  consists  in  bringing  in,  in  right  proportion,  in  the  right 
spirit,  and  at  the  right  time,  facts  and  ideas  borrowed  from 
other  provinces  of  human  thought.  To  know  the  feeling  of 
New  England  prior  to  the  war  will  help  to  explain  Whittier's 
anti-slavery  poems ;  to  know  something  of  icebergs  and  the 
Sargasso  Sea  will  make  more  vivid  certain  passages  in  The 
Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  ;  to  know  a  spider  and  its  web 
helps  us  to  enjoy  the  myth  of  Arachne.  But  we  must  dis- 
criminate between  what  is  principal  and  what  is  subordinate, 
between  what  is  vital  and  what  is  accidental.  Whittier's  anti- 
slavery  poems  are  an  expression  of  emotion  and  belief  that 
were  personal,  although  shared  by  many  of  his  contemporaries  \ 
the  story  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  is  a  story  of  a  spiritual  ex- 
perience, set  in  a  weird  and  picturesque  region  where  the  laws 
of  geography  have  little  place  ;  and  the  myth  of  Arachne  is  an 
imaginative  attempt  to  account  for  a  fact  in  nature  by  reference 
to  certain  well-known  human  traits.  And  the  right  use,  in  a 
literature  lesson,  of  the  ideas  borrowed  from  history,  from  geog- 
raphy, and  from  nature  study,  is  to  employ  them  merely  to 
interpret  and  make  vivid  the  literature. 

{g)  It  seems  in  place  to  add  as  a  final  comment  on  this 
subject  that  correlation  is  only  thinking.  There  is  no  thinking 
without  bringing  ideas  together,  and  no  educated  person  either 


EXGUSH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 79 

tries  to  think  only  in  terms  of  one  department  of  human 
knowledge,  or  confuses  the  appropriate  relationships  of  the 
ideas  he  brings  together. 

(10)  The  study  of  literary  biography  remains  to  be  con- 
sidered. It  is  desirable  that  children  know  —  largely  for  future 
use  —  the  authors  of  what  they  read,  and  their  literary 
time  and  place.  It  is  also  sometimes  desirable  Biographies, 
that  they  know  something  of  these  biographies  in  so  far  as  they 
are  related  to  the  work  in  a  way  that  the  children  can  under- 
stand.    Certain  limitations  must,  however,  be  pointed  out. 

{a)  The  lives  of  literary  men  are  usually  uninteresting  if 
not  incomprehensible,  to  children.  They  better  understand 
the  actions  and  motives  which  lead  to  achievements  of  another 
sort :  of  warriors,  rulers,  inventors,  discoverers.  The  subtle 
relations  between  the  poet's  experiences  and  his  work  are  for 
older  minds. 

iji)  Mere  personalia  are  not  biography  in  any  worthy  sense 
of  the  term ;  at  best  they  are  only  gossip.^ 

(r)  The  study  of  the  biography  of  an  author  is  best  taken 
up  after  the  study  of  his  work.  There  is  until  then  no  reason 
whatever  why  the  child  should  care  to  hear  anything  about  the 
man. 

(11)  In  considering  a  piecQ  of  literature,  under  such  topics 

as  the  foregoing,  the  question  of  lesson  plans  and 

*       °  ^  .  .  ,    Lesson  Plans, 

the  conduct   of  the   lesson    must   receive    special 

consideration. 

{a)  What  should  a  lesson  plan  include?  Elaborate  plans 
are  usually  a  burden.  No  teacher  can  foresee  just  what  direc- 
tion the  treatment  of  a  lesson  will  have  to  take.  To  adhere  to 
the  minutiae  of  a  full  and  elaborate  plan  will  be  to  disregard 
many  of  the  most  valuable  opportunities  arising  from  the 
spontaneous  doubts,  difficulties,  and  ideas  of  the  class.  The 
best  points  of  a  lesson  are  often  those  that  spring  up,  as  it 


^  See  Lowell's  sane  and  lively  essay  on  "  Chapman,"  and  Agnes  Rep- 
plier's  essay  on  "  Biography  "  in  Counsel  on  the  Reading  of  Books,  Boston, 
1901. 


l8o    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

were,  by  accident:  they  are  often  more  vivid  to  the  pupils, 
and  more  needed  than  anything  that  the  teacher  can  fore- 
see. Elaborate  plans  should  be  made  during  a  teacher's 
period  of  training  or  in  the  beginning  of  his  career.  But  the 
sooner  he  can  discard  them,  the  better  will  be  his  teaching. 
The  full  plan  is  of  value  principally  in  the  teacher's  own 
preparation. 

{b)  Some  plan,  however,  the  teacher  must  have :  a  few 
large  points,  carefully  thought  out  and  associated  firmly  in  his 
Working  mind  with  a  considerable  number  of  details.  To 
Outlines.  j-j^jg  j^^gg  outline  he  must  adhere  if  he  wishes  the 

lesson  to  have  unity,  —  that  is,  to  leave  in  the  minds  of  the 
class  a  unified  impression  of  the  literature  as  a  whole,  and  of 
the  beauty,  interest,  and  significance  of  its  parts. 

(r)  In  preparing  such  a  plan  there  are  certain  things  to  be 
considered  :  the  appropriate  form  of  introduction  ;  the  meaning 
and  spirit  of  the  piece  as  a  whole, —  that  is,  the  author's  feeling, 
meaning,  or  point  of  view ;  the  story  or  thought  itself,  in  whole 
and  in  details ;  the  relation  of  its  parts  ;  the  type  of  literary 
form  to  which  it  belongs  ;  the  meanings  of  words  and  allusions  ; 
the  literary  beauties  of  form  and  picture ;  the  presentation  of 
the  work  as  a  whole.^  A  plan  of  the  sort  here  meant  is 
illustrated  in  the  following  treatment,  for  the  sixth  grade,  of 
Browning's  How  They  Brought  the  Good  News  from  Ghent  to 
Aix :  — 

I.  An  introduction,  giving  Browning's  account  of  how  he 
came  to  write  the  poem. 

.    ^        ,  2.  A  brief  comparison  of  it  in  theme  and  spirit 

An  Example. 

to  some  of  the  ballads  and  other  poems  of  action 

which  the  children  have  read. 

3.  Call  attention  to  the  scene  at  starting. 

4.  Note  the  galloping  movement  of  the  verse,  and  its  fitness 
to  the  theme. 


^  This  is  manifestly  impossible  in  a  long  classic,  extending  through  a 
number  of  lessons.  In  such  cases  the  constant  reference  to  preceding 
portions  of  a  work  will  enable  the  pupil  to  grasp  it  as  a  whole. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    l8l 

5.  Note  the  hurry  of  the  action. 

6.  By  what  means  is  the  horse  Roland  shown  to  be  the  hero 
of  the  poem? 

7.  How  are  the  flight  of  time  and  the  distance  travelled 
given? 

8.  Pick  out  {a)  the  vivid  and  effective  scenes,  {h)  the  lines 
whose  sound  is  pleasing. 

9.  What  now  appears  to  have  been  the  author's  own  interest 
in  the  story ;  that  is,  his  motive  in  writing  it  ? 

10.  Have  the  poem  read  by  good  readers  in  the  class. 

As  the  poem  has  "  no  historical  basis  whatever,"  its  place  in 
time  need  not  trouble  us.  As  to  its  geography,  the  location  of 
Ghent  and  Aix  may  be  briefly  mentioned.  What  the  poem 
should  leave  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils  is  the 
spirited  language  and  action,  the  succession  of  vivid  scenes 
that  pass  through  the  mind  of  the  poet,  and  the  sympathetic 
portrayal  of  the  horse  as  the  hero  of  the  story. 

It  is  evident  that  some  pieces  of  literature  will  need  fuller 
analysis,  others  less.  Sometimes  the  best  results  are  reached 
by  the  mere  reading  of  the  selection  by  the  class  or  the  teacher. 
No  general  rule  can  be  laid  down,  except  that  already  given, 
that  the  literature  is  to  be  so  treated  as  to  secure  the  fullest 
appreciation  of  which  the  class  is  capable.  Analysis  is  valuable 
in  proportion  as  it  reveals  new  ideas  within  the  interest  and 
comprehension  of  the  class,  and  is  a  true  interpretation  of  the 
literature ;  and  a  plan  is  valuable  mainly  according  to  the 
selection  of  the  topics  to  be  presented. 

The  starting-point  in  learning  any  new  thing  is  past  expe- 
riences :  things  are  known  when  they  become  related  to  things 

already  known.     Hence  arises  the  custom  of  begin- 

,  .  .  ,  .  ,       .         1     .         ,   Introductions. 

nmg  a  new  subject  with  an  mtroduction  designed 

to  link  the  new  with  the  old.     It  is  possible  to  make  such  an 

introduction  either  serviceable  or  useless.     An  introduction  is 

useless  if   it   relates   the    literature    to  ideas  with  which  the 

literature  has  nothing  in  common  ;    worse  than  useless,  if  it 

starts  associations   out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  and  tone 


1 82     ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

of  the  literature.  An  introduction  is  serviceable  when  it  arouses 
interest  in  the  coming  subject,  furnishes  information  neces- 
sary for  comprehending  the  subject,  or  puts  the  pupils  into 
the  appropriate  attitude  of  mind  and  feeling.  Sometimes  the 
teacher  may  begin  with  no  introduction,  knowing  the  neces- 
sary "apperceptive  mass"  to  be  already  there  ;  sometimes  the 
general  nature  of  the  story  may  be  touched  upon,  as,  "  This  is 
a  story  of  how  a  mistreated  animal  secured  justice  for  himself  "  ;  ^ 
sometimes  the  literature  will  be  referred  to  some  experience 
the  children  have  had,  or  to  some  other  literature  which  it 
resembles  or  from  which  it  differs.  It  has  been  said  already 
that  one  test  of  the  successful  teaching  of  a  piece  of  literature 
is  the  leaving  the  student  with  a  true  impression  of  its  spirit 
and  general  purport.  It  is  to  this  aim  that  the  introduction 
also  should  address  itself. 

The  present  writer  believes  that  literature  is  a  subject  for 
study  ;  that  to  assume  that  intellectual  effort  brought  to  bear  on 
Outside  ^  subject  makes  it  distasteful  is  to  hold  a  brief  for 

Study.  tj^g  stupid  and  the  lazy ;  that  while  it  is  true  that  some 

literature  needs  no  study  to  understand  its  message,  the  most 
of  the  literature  read  in  the  schools  needs  an  active  and  an  open 
mind.  That  he  apply  himself  to  a  subject  and  master  it  so  far 
as  he  can  is  a  just  demand  to  make  of  the  pupil  in  the  elementary 
school.  To  do  this  he  should  have  more  time  than  the  class- 
room treatment  of  the  subject  allows.  "  Home  study,"  so 
called,  should  include  the  literature  as  well  as  the  other  subjects. 
Such  study,  if  left  unguided,  is  not  likely  to  have  definite  re- 
sults. After  the  stage  at  which  the  mere  learning  to  read  is 
the  main  object,  it  is  well  to  give  the  pupil  certain  topics  to 
consider,  certain  questions  to  answer,  upon  the  literature  he  is 
asked  to  study.  These  topics  would  naturally  be  from  the 
teacher's  plan  for  presenting  the  work.  It  is  equally  a  mistake 
here,  however,  to  adhere  to  this  method  until  it  becomes  a  stiff 
and  mechanical  thing.  The  value  of  spontaneous  activity  must 
not  be  forgotten. 


1  Longfellow's  The  Bell  of  Atri. 


ENGLISH  IX  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 83 

(12)    Amid  the  bewildering  multiplicity  of  printed   things 

the  inexpert  are  lost.     The  art  of  using  books  and  papers  well 

and  economically  must  be  learned  as  a  means  to   „, 

•'  Slow  and 

an  intellectual  life.     Even  the  man  who  does  little   Rapid 

Reading, 
reading  needs  to  learn  not  only  how  to  pick  and 

choose,  but  how  to  read  rapidly  or  slowly.^     So  inherent  in  our 

civilization   are    the    conditions    that  call  for   these    different 

powers,    that    they    should    be    cultivated  in    the    elementary 

school ;  it  should  be  one  of  the  specific  objects  of  the  work  in 

literature  to  train  not  only  in  the  close  and  careful  reading 

which  the  literary  classic  and  the  text-book  require,  but  also 

in  the  rapid   and  cursory  reading  which  is   enough  for  the 

lighter  and  simpler  stuff.     In  work  of  the  latter  kind,  however, 

the  teacher  needs  to  be    on  guard  against  the  formation    of 

slip-shod  habits. 

3.  In  the  foregoing  pages  it  has  been  argued  that  literature 

has  a  place  on  the  tongue  and  in  the  ear,  and  that  it  is  a  thing 

to  be  taught  and  studied.     It  now  remains  to  con- 

...  .  .         ,         ,,  .  ■         r  Literature 

sider  It  as  a  thmg  to  be  enioved.      ihis  pomt  of  as  a  Source 
.     ,       ,    ,  ,   •       ,  J-         of  Pleasure, 

view  has,  mdeed,  been  assumed  m  the  precedmg 

discussion ;  but  it  is  bound  up  with  other  considerations  that 

are  here  to  be  presented. 

(i)  The  choice  of  literature  for  the  schools  must  always 
take  account  of  childish  interests  and  childish  powers.  To 
attempt  to  force  the  interest  too  far  is  not  only  to  choose  what 
invite  failure,  but  to  cultivate  an  unfortunate  tedium  ^^  EnjoyaWe. 
and  dislike  for  good  literature.  Pupils  must  be  led  on  by 
gentle  steps  from  the  easy  to  the  more  difficult,  and  from  the 
cheap  to  the  precious.  The  boy  whose  palate  is  depraved  to 
the  "penny  dreadful"  will  find  Wordsworth  stupid;  but  he 
may  find  Cooper  and  Stevenson  a  good  transition  to  Scott 
and  Homer,  and  thence  to  literature  more  subjective  and 
contemplative. 

(2)   The  study  and  the  teaching  must  have  pleasure  as  well 


1  See  an  article  on  "  The  Pace  in  Reading,"  Atlantic  Monthly, 
June,  1902. 


1 84    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

as  profit  in  view  :  pleasure  of  the  intellect  and  pleasure  of  the 

emotions.      Good  teaching  of  literature   will    increase   week 

by    week    the    child's    storehouse     of    agreeable 
IMsikc  tli6 
Literature       memories ;  will  give  him  a  private  theatre  where - 

a  Permanent  ,.   a     ,.•     •  u  i.         j 

Source  of         1"   are  enacted  stirring  scenes,  where  sweet  and 

easure.         ^^-^^  voices  are  heard,  and  where  he  can  feel  that 

he  is  living  a  fuller  and  finer  life. 

(3)   The  school  reading  should  be  only  an  introduction  to 

the  world  of  books.     Encourage  home  reading;  find  time  to 

have  the  children  talk  of  what  they  have  read  ; 
Collateral  ^  ' 

Reading ;  Use  suggest  new  poems  and  new  stories  in  connection 
of  Libraries.         •",       ,        ,  ,         1     ,  ,  •  ,       , 

with  what  has  already  been  read  in  school  or  out ; 

have  books  about  the  school-room  to  tempt  them  to  read,  and 
strengthen  the  temptation  by  reading  choice  bits  to  them  ; 
strike  an  alliance  with  the  public  libraries  :  the  custodians  of 
the  library  are,  in  general,  more  than  willing  to  oblige  the 
teachers  and  the  children.  Where  public  libraries  do  not 
exist,  a  school  library  may  be  gradually  formed  at  small  cost : 
one  excellent  plan  is  to  begin  with  "  grade  libraries,"  each 
grade  of  the  school  gradually  building  up  by  voluntary  con- 
tributions a  library  for  itself,  leaving  it  for  the  next  group 
of  children,  and,  in  turn,  passing  into  its  inheritance  from 
the  grade  above.  From  such  a  series  of  nuclei,  growing 
by  the  stimulus  of  immediate  interest  and  possessioi^HJlbt  < 
be  formed,  in  a  few  years  and  at  little  cost,  a  good  school 
library. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  problems  arising  in  the  teaching 
of  literature,  it  remains  to  consider  the  form  and  extent  of 
Complete  the  units  to  be  presented.  We  have  seen  the 
vsfscifooi  passing  of  the  supremacy  of  the  school  reader  and 
Readers.  ^]^g   introduction   of  the  classics  into  the  school. 

The  views  of  the  late  Mr.  Scudder  express  the  spirit  of  this 
important  movement  :  ^  — 


^  Literature  in  the  Sc/iools,  by  H.  E.  Scudder,  Boston,  188S.  See  also 
Superintendent  Maxwell  in  The  Ne\v  York  Teachers'  Monograph, 
New  York,  November,  189S. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION     185 

"The  real  point  of  practical  reform,  however,  is  not  in  the 
preference  of  American  authors  to  English,  but  in  the  careful 
concentration  of  the  minds  of  boys  and  girls  upon  standard 
American  literature,  in  opposition  to  a  dissipation  over  a  desul- 
tory  and  mechanical  acquaintance  with  scraps  from  a  variety 
of  sources,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  In  my  paper  on  Nur- 
sery Classics  in  School,  I  argued  that  there  is  a  true  economy 
in  substituting  the  great  books  of  that  portion  of  the  world's  lit- 
erature which  represents  the  childhood  of  the  world's  mind  for 
the  thin,  quickly  forgotten,  feeble  imaginations  of  insignificant 
bookmakers.  There  is  an  equally  noble  economy  in  engaging 
the  child's  mind,  when  it  is  passing  out  of  an  immature  state 
into  one  of  rational,  intelligent  appropriation  of  literature,  upon 
such  carefully  chosen  classic  work  as  shall  invigorate  and 
deepen  it.  There  is  plenty  of  vagrancy  in  reading ;  the  public 
libraries  and  cheap  papers  are  abundantly  able  to  satisfy  the 
truant ;  but  it  ought  to  be  recognized  once  for  all  that  the 
schools  are  to  train  the  mind  into  appreciation  of  literature, 
not  to  amuse  it  with  idle  diversion  ;  to  this  end,  the  simplest 
and  most  direct  method  is  to  place  before  boys  and  girls  for 
their  regular  task  in  reading,  not  scraps  from  this  and  that 
author,  duly  paragraphed  and  numbered,  but  a  wisely  selected  _ 
series  of  works  by  men  whom  their  country  honours,  and  who 
have  made  their  country  worth  living  in. 

"  The  continuous  reading  of  a  classic  is  in  itself  a  liberal 
education ;  the  fragmentary  reading  of  commonplace  lessons 
in  minor  morals,  such  as  make  up  much  of  our  reading-books, 
is  a  pitiful  waste  of  growing  mental  powers.  Even  were  our 
reading-books  composed  of  choice  selections  from  the  highest 
literature,  they  would  still  miss  the  very  great  advantage  which 
follows  upon  the  steady  growth  of  acquaintance  with  a  sustained 
piece  of  literary  art.  I  do  not  insist,  of  course,  that  Evangelitie 
should  be  read  at  one  session  of  the  school,  though  it  would  be 
exceedingly  helpful  in  training  the  powers  of  the  mind  if,  after 
this  poem  had  been  read  day  by  day  for  a  few  weeks,  it  were 
to  be  taken  up  first  in  its  separate  thirds,  and  then  in  an  entire 
reading.  What  I  claim  is  that  the  boy  or  girl  who  has  read 
Evangelitie  through  steadily  has  acquired  a  certain  power  in 
appropriating  literature  which  is  not  to  be  had  by  reading  a 
collection  of  minor  poems,  —  the  power  of  long-sustained 
attention  and  interest. 

"  If  we  could  substitute  a  full  course  of  reading  from  the  great 


1 86    ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

American  authors  for  a  course  in  any  existing  graded  series  of 
readers,  we  should  gain  a  further  advantage  in  teaching  children 
literature  without  frightening  them  with  the  vast  spectre  of 
literature.  Moliere's  doctor^  spoke  prose  all  his  life  without 
discovering  it,  and  children  taught  to  read  literature  may 
escape  the  haunting  sense  that  there  is  a  serious,  vague  study 
known  as  literature,  which  has  hand-books  and  manuals,  and 
vast  dictionaries,  and  cyclopaedias,  and  Heaven  knows  what 
mountains  shutting  it  out  from  the  view  of  ordinary  mortals. 
There  is  a  deal  of  mischief  in  teaching  young  people  about 
literature  and  perhaps  giving  them  occasional  specimens, 
but  all  the  while  keeping  them  at  a  distance  from  the  real 
thing." 

With  Mr.  Scudder's  views  as  to  the  value  of  the  complete 
classic  over  the  unrelated  fragment  skilful  teachers  have  no 
difference.  The  previous  discussions  cf  the  treatment  of  the 
literature  as  an  organic  unity  are  based  upon  the  assumption 
that  entire  compositions  are  read.  It  still  remains,  however, 
to  be  pointed  out :  — 

(i)  That  there  are  many  authors  whose  good  things  are  so 
small  and  so  few  that  they  cannot  well  be  supplied  apart  from 
the  school  reader ;  ^ 

(2)  That  many  of  the  good  things  here  meant  are  a  part  of 
the  common  property  of  even  the  imperfectly  educated,  and 
that  to  omit  them  is  to  cut  the  child  off  from  a  part  of  the 
common  literary  heritage ; 

(3)  That  many  authors  whose  work  in  general  is  of  high- 
value  have    written   but   little  that  is  suitable  for   the   low^r 
grades ; 

(4)  That  there  are  selections  from  longer  works,  scenes  from 
Scott,  Dickens,  Shakspere ;  lyrics  from  Shelley,  Browning, 
and  the  dramatists :  selections,  indeed,  from  many  of  the 
larger  works  which  the  children  can  appreciate  long  before 
they  can  read  the  whole  composition ; 


1  The  reader  will  note  the  error  in  the  allusion. 

-  It  may  be  added  that  many  good  things  may  be  culled  from  works 
which  can  never  be  rated  as  classics  good  enough  to  read  entire. 


ENGLISH  IN  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION    1 87 

(5)  That  often  the  best  introduction  to  a  classic  is  some 
well-chosen  selection  ;  and  /  -^  / 

(6)  That  many  fragments  from  the  greater  works,  while 
they  may  lose  something  by  absence  from  their  setting,  yet, 
like  the  songs  from  Pippa  Passes  and  The  Princess  have  in 
themselves  sufficient  organic  unity  to  be  appreciated  apart 
from  their  context. 

In  sum,  the  argument  seems  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  is  a  place  in  the  school  for  both  the  classic  and  the 
school  reader. 


CHAPTER  III 

ENGLISH   EST   SECONDARY   EDUCATION 

Part  I. — Language 

GENERAL   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  on  Secondary  School  Studies,  with  the 
Report  of  the  Conferences  Arranged  by  the  Committee.  American 
Book  Co.     1894. 

Samuel  Thurber.  (i)  The  Three  Parts  of  English  Study:  their  Corre- 
lation in  Secondary  Teaching.  American  Institute  of  Ixstruc- 
TioN,  1892,  132.  (2)  An  Address  to  Teachers  of  English.  Education, 
XVIII.  515.  (3)  English  Work  in  the  Secondary  Schools.  School 
Review,  I.  638.  (4)  English  in  Secondary  Schools;  Some  Consider- 
ations as  to  its  Aims  and  its  Needs.  School  Review,  II.  46S,  540. 
(5)  To  what  End  do  High  Schools  Teach  English .' 

F.  T.  Baker.  Course  in  English,  Horace  Mann  School.  In  Teachers 
College  Record,  May,  1900,  Vol.  I.  No.  3. 

A.  S.  Hill.     English  in  Schools.     In  Our  English.     Harper.     1S88. 

Percival  Chubb.     The  Teaching  of  English.     Macmillan.     1902. 

Nothing  has  so  impeded  the  proper  development  of  a 
thorough  secondary  course  in  Enghsh  as  the  traditional 
English  a  system  of  breaking  up  the  subject  into  a  consid- 

Singie  Subject,  erable  number  of  smaller  divisions,  the  mutual 
relation  of  which  is  far  from  obvious.  The  old  secondary 
curriculum  included  elocution,  oratory,  grammar,  composition, 
rhetoric,  the  study  of  certain  works  of  literature,  the  history 
of  English  literature,  versification,  —  not  to  mention  "word 
study,"  "  bad  English,"  and  perhaps  other  matters.  Indeed, 
the  fact  that  there  is  one  broad  field,  one  single  subject, 
English,  which  can  be  treated  in  the  high  school  in  a  consecu- 
tive and  systematic  way,  was  long  unknown,  and  is  even  now 
not  often  understood  or  appreciated.  Nor,  when  this  essential 
premise  is  accepted,  is  it  easy  to  agree  on  the  relation  of  part 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      1 89 

to  part  in  the  whole  process  of  training  which  we  include 
under  the  general  term.  It  is,  however,  growing  yearly  more 
clear  that  no  one  kind  of  instruction  in  English  can  be  effec- 
tive that  is  not  planned  with  an  understanding  of  the  aim  of 
all  instruction  in  English. 

Secondary  instruction  in  English  has  been  dominated, 
during  the  nineteenth  century,  by  three  successive  ideals,  each 
of  which  has  thrown  stress  on  a  special  and  xhree  Points 
separate  part  of  the  whole  subject.  The  first  of  View, 
ideal,  grammatical  correctness,  was  that  of  Lindley  Murray, 
Noah  Webster,  and  their  contemporaries,  whose  one  aim  was 
that  the  pupil  should  understand  the  syntactical  laws  of  the 
language  and  should  have  skill  in  the  logical  analysis  of 
sentences  and  phrases.  Half  a  century  or  more  of  teaching  in 
which  the  emphasis  was  laid  on  these  topics  alone  led  to  a 
sharp  reaction  of  feeling,  which  tended  to  underestimate  the 
benefits  derived  from  the  proper  study  of  English  grammar. 
The  second  ideal  was  rhetorical  correctness,  and  the  period 
in  which  it  was  dominant  may  be  roughly  reckoned  as  begin- 
ning with  the  Harvard  entrance  requirements  in  English  in 
1874.  For  nearly  twenty  years  thereafter,  the  stress  in 
secondary  instruction  was  largely  thrown  on  clearness  and 
accuracy  of  written  expression,  to  which  the  knowledge  of 
English  grammar  was  regarded  as  wholly  subordinate.  The 
third  ideal,  that  now  rapidly  coming  into  'prominence,  is  that 
of  familiarity  with  and  appreciation  of  English  literature.  It 
was  first  evident  in  high  school  instruction  between  1885  and 
1890,  in  the  form  of  a  growing  feeling  that  more  attention 
should  be  devoted  to  English  literature,  without  undue 
neglect  of  either  grammar  or  rhetoric,  and  was  first  recognized 
by  the  colleges  in  the  Yale  entrance  requirements  of  1894,  and 
the  uniform  entrance  requirements  adopted  in  the  same  year. 

The  rapidly  widening  outlook  of  teachers   has  led   to  the 
building  up  of  an  ideal  more  stable  than  any  of  those  men- 
tioned, —  the  ideal  of  a  well-balanced  course  of  ^jjg  Essential 
instruction  in  the  language  and  literature  of  the  Elements, 
mother-tongue.     What  the  essentials  of  such  a  course  are,  we 


190      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

have  already  considered  in  the  opening  chapter.  We  agreed 
that  the  mastery  of  the  mother-tongue  invoh'ed  three  elements  : 
(i)  the  ability  of  the  individual  to  understand  the  thoughts 
of  others,  whether  spoken  or  written ;  ( 2 )  his  ability  to 
express  his  own  thoughts  adequately  through  spoken  or 
written  words;  and  (3)  his  ability  to  gain  pleasure  and  profit 
through  his  native  literature.  We  also  pointed  out  that  in- 
struction in  effective  expression  involved  training  in  grammar 
and  rhetoric,  as  well  as  practice  in  composition ;  that  instruc- 
tion in  effective  oral  expression  involved  these  also,  and,  in 
addition,  elocution  and  practice  in  speaking  ;  and  that  the 
development  of  the  power  to  appreciate  literature  involves, 
not  only  the  reading  of  literature  with  that  object  in  view, 
but  some  knowledge  of  the  history  of  literature,  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  a  certain  number  of  literary  masterpieces  of 
various  epochs,  and  a  realization  of  the  characteristic  traits  of 
the  race  or  the  nation  which  are  revealed  in  its  literature. 

W^ith  these  three  essential  elements  or  aims  of  instruction 
clearly  in  mind,  we  can  now  take  up  in  detail  such  points 
regarding  the  matter  or  method  of  instruction  as  are  most 
in  need  of  discussion,  under  the  general  heads  of  language 
and  literature. 

1.    Language  :  Grammar 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

S.  E.  Lang.     Modern  Teaching  of  Grammar      Educational  Review, 

XXI.  294. 
F.  A.  Barbour.     The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar.     Ginn.     1901. 
E.  C.  Bowen.     On  Teaching  by  Means  of  Grammar.     In  Essays  on  a 

Liberal  Education.     Edited  by  F.  W.  Farrar.     Macmillan.     1867. 
E.    A.   Abbott.      On    the   Teaching   of   English    Grammar.     In    P.    A. 

Barnett's  Teaching  and  Organization.     Longmans.     1897. 
S.  S.  Laurie.     Lectures  on    Language   and    Linguistic   Method   in   the 

School.     Chapter  VII. 
E.  A.  Allen.     English  Grammar  Viewed  from  All  Sides.     Educatiox, 

VII.  460. 
O.  F.  Emerson.     The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar.     School  Review, 

V.  129. 


EXGLISH  L\  SEC02^DARY  EDUCATJOX      Ipl 

W.   D.    Whitney.      Essentials    of    English    Grammar.      Ginn.      1S77. 

Preface. 
R.  G.  White.     Words  and  their  Uses.     Houghton,  Mitfiin  &  Co.     1S70. 

Chapters  IX.  and  X. 

The  old  theory  was  that    grammar  inculcated    correctness 

by  teaching  the  laws  that  rule  language.     Such  a  doctrine  was 

the  natural  outcome  of  the  study  of  the  classical 

1  •         1  •   1  J      1  1  "WaaH  is  the 

languages,  ni  which  concord  plays  so  large  a  part  Aim  of 

...  ,       .  -    ,  ,    Grammar  ? 

in  syntactical  relations :  to  be  ignorant  of  the  real 

basis  of  agreement  was,  in  Latin  and  Greek,  to  be  ignorant 
of  the  real  basis  of  the  Hterary  language.  Two  other  circum- 
stances united  to  aid  the  association  of  grammar  with  correct- 
ness. First,  the  prevailing  attitude  toward  language  in  France 
and  England,  during  the  eighteenth  century  and  during  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  highly  rational  and 
philosophic,  not  to  say  metaphysical.  Language  was  supposed 
(erroneously,  of  course)  to  follow  the  laws  of  logic  and  reason.^ 
Second,  the  difference  between  the  forms  of  language  spoken 
by  people  in  various  parts  of  the  same  country  was  at  that 
time  even  greater  than  it  is  now.  In  France,  Germany,  Italy, 
Spain,  and  even  in  England,  the  spoken  language  of  great 
masses  of  people  differed  radically  in  many  points  of  inflection 
and  syntax  from  that  spoken  by  other  large  groups  of  people, 
and  all  differed  in  many  important  particulars  from  the  written, 
literary,  or  "  standard  "  language.  Only  those  who  knew  the 
inflectional  and  syntactical  laws  sanctioned  by  grammar,  which 
was  based  on  the  literary  language,  could  speak  or  write 
"  correctly." 

As  time  went  on,  however,  marked  changes  appeared  in  the 
attitude  taken  toward  grammar  both  by  investigators  and  by 
teachers.     First,  it  became  clear  that  the  teaching   xheModera 
of  the  rules  of  grammar,  particularly  in  the  mechan-   Theory, 
ical  way  then  in  vogue,  scarcely  produced  the  result  desired. 


^  The  movement  began  with  the  Port-Royal  Grammaire  generale  ei 
raisonnee  (1660),  and  is  very  fully  and  interestingly  described  in  Petit  de 
Julleville,  Histoire  de  la  Laiigne  et  Litterature  fran^aise,  V.  723  fl.  and 
VI.  821  ff. 


192      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

Children  learned  the  rules,  recited  them  glibly,  but  did  not 
thus  acquire  the  habit  of  employing  the  usages  sanctioned  by 
the  literary  language.^  It  was  plain  rule-grammar  did  not 
suffice  to  produce  correctness  in  speech,  any  more  than  rule- 
arithmetic  produced  real  skill  in  calculating.  One  might  speak 
correctly  without  a  knowledge  of  the  rules ;  even  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  rules  one  might  speak  incorrectly.  Second, 
it  has  become  evident  that,  of  all  the  modern  European  lan- 
guages, English  is  the  one  to  which  the  old  laws  of  concord  apply 
least,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  have  so  few  inflections.^  Third, 
with  the  development  of  modern  philology,  the  attitude  of 
investigators  toward  language  has  greatly  changed.  They  no 
longer  deem  themselves  arbiters  of  speech,  but  simply  recorders 
of  usage,  humble  searchers  for  the  hidden  laws  that  seem  to 
guide  language.  They  no  longer  despise  dialects  or  deal  ex- 
clusively with  the  literary  language.  What  their  task  is,  and 
what,  from  the  scientific  point  of  view,  grammar  has  become, 
is  well  stated  by  Professor  Whitney,  in  the  preface  to  his  Es- 
szntials  of  English  Grammar  (1870)  :  — 

"That  the  leading  object  of  the  study  of  English  grammar  is 
to  teach  the  correct  use  of  English,  is,  in  my  view,  an  error,  and 
one  which  is  gradually  becoming  removed,  giving  way  to  the 
sounder  opinion  that  grammar  is  a  reflective  study  of  language, 
for  a  variety  of  purposes,  of  which  correctness  is  only  one,  and 
a  secondary  or  subordmate  one,  —  by  no  means  unimportant, 


^  The  correcting  of  "  bad  English  "  was  long  a  part  of  the  course  in 
grammar.  Driven  thence;  it  took  refuge  under  the  wing  of  rhetoric. 
The  main  objection  to  the  frequent  use  of  this  form  of  exercise  is  that  it 
seems  to  throw  the  emphasis  on  incorrect  expressions  and  to  tend  to 
make  the  pupil  familiar  with  them  rather  than  with  the  correct  forms. 
To  the  use  of  the  exercise  from  time  to  time  there  can  be  no  real  objec- 
tion, especially  in  the  case  of  pupils  who  are  already  too  familiar  with 
the  incorrect  forms,  provided  that  the  specimens  are  really  normal  "  bad 
English." 

■''  See,  for  a  popular  statement  of  the  facts,  R.  G.  White's  chapter  on 
the  "Grammarless  Tongue"  in  Words  and  their  Uses,  and,  for  a  more 
scientific  statement,  O.  Jespersen,  Progress  in  Language,  with  Special  Ref- 
erence to  English,  Macmillan,  1894. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     1 93 

but  best  attained  indirectly.  It  should  be  a  pervading  element 
in  the  whole  school  and  home  training  of  the  young,  to  make 
them  use  their  own  tongue  with  accuracy  and  force  ;  and, 
along  with  any  special  drilling  directed  to  this  end,  some  of 
the  rudimentary  distinctions  and  rules  of  grammar  are  con- 
veniently taught  \  but  that  is  not  the  study  of  grammar,  and  it 
will  not  bear  the  intrusion  of  much  formal  grammar  without 
being  spoiled  for  its  own  ends.  It  is  constant  use  and  prac- 
tice, under  never-failing  watch  and  correction,  that  makes  good 
writers  and  speakers ;  the  appreciation  of  direct  authority  is 
the  most  efficient  corrective.  Grammar  has  its  part  to  con- 
tribute, but  rather  in  the  higher  than  in  the  lower  stages  of  the 
work.  One  must  be  a  somewhat  reflective  user  of  language  to 
amend  even  here  and  there  a  point  by  grammatical  reasons  ; 
and  no  one  ever  changed  from  a  bad  speaker  to  a  good  one 
by  applying  the  rules  of  grammar  to  what  he  said.  To  teach 
English  grammar  to  an  English  speaker  is,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
to  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  the  pupil  knows  the  facts  of 
the  language,  in  order  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  underlying 
principles  and  relations,  to  the  philosophy  of  language  as  illus- 
trated in  his  own  use  of  it,  in  a  more  effective  manner  than  is 
otherwise  possible." 

In  England,  France,  and  Germany,  where  the  schools  must 
often  struggle  to  give  to  pupils  speaking  a  dialect  a  clear  idea 
of  the  usages  of  the  literary  language,  the  chief  jhe  Present 
aim  of  granmiar  is  still  generally  thought  to  be  the  status. 
inculcating  of  syntactical  and  inflectional  "  correctness."  In 
parts  of  the  United  States  where  the  foreign  element  is  strong- 
est, the  same  may  properly  be  the  case.  As  a  rule,  however, 
we  have  come  to  depend,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  "  cor- 
rectness," largely  on  the  now  greatly  increased  instruction  in 
composition  and  in  literature,  and  to  look  upon  grammar  as 
a  means  both  for  giving  the  young  some  knowledge  of  the  facts 
of  language  and  for  thus  training  them  in  the  analysis  and 
structure  of  sentences. 

The  history  of  the  teaching  of  grammar  in  Germany,  France, 
England,  and  the  United  States  seems  in  the  main  to  have 
been  the  same.  The  grammarians  who  aimed  at  correctness 
by  rule  were  in  the  ascendancy  in  the  eighteenth  century  and 

13 


194      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth.     They  were,  as  we  have 
previously  pointed  out,  the  successors  of  the  old  grammarians 
of  the  Latin  tongue,  accustomed  only  to  mechan- 
Grammar         ical  methods  of  dealing  with  the  facts  of  a  dead 
^"^^  language,  known  to  them  almost    entirely  in    its 

somewhat  artificial  literary  form.  This  school  was  represented 
in  England  and  the  United  States  by  Lindley  Murray.  It  was 
followed  by  what  might  be  called  the  logical  or  metaphysical 
school,  typified  by  Becker  in  Germany,  and  by  many  minor 
grammarians  in  France,  England,  and  the  United  States.^  Con- 
ceiving of  language  as  based  on  reason  and  as  the  logical  com- 
bination of  certain  parts  of  speech,  each  of  which  represented  a 
sort  of  abstract  entity,  these  writers  improved  on  their  prede- 
cessors by  offering  systems  which  had  at  least  the  merit  of  being 
logical,  but  which  laboured  under  the  disadvantage  both  of  being 
often  unsound  [and  of  being  almost  wholly  beyond  the  actual 
comprehension  of  the  young  and  immature.^  The  reaction, 
beginning  in  Germany  with  such  scholars  as  Grimm,  finally 
triumphed,  and  resulted  for  a  while  in  a  general  prejudice 
against  the  older  schools,  in  a  widespread  suspicion  of  the 
possibility  of  teaching  grammar  at  all,  — at  least,  of  teaching 
anything  but  the  bare  and  necessary  facts  of  language.* 


^  On  the  French  movement,  see  I.  Carre,  "  L'Enseignement  de  la 
Langue  fran9aise,"  in  Kecueil  des  Monographies  pedagogiques,   18S9,  IV. 

50-55- 

2  A  good  illustration  is  the  old  definition  of  the  "potential"  mood  as 
"  that  form  of  a  verb  which  exjjresses  the  power,  liberty,  possibility,  or 
necessity  of  being,  action,  or  passion." 

3  "  Two  generations  ago  the  watchwords  of  the  parties  into  which  the 
educational  world  was  divided  were  '  Grammar  thorough  and  systematici' 
and  '  No  teaching  of  grammar  in  the  schools.'  On  the  one  side  were( 
ranged  men  like  Becker  and  Wurst,  who  declared,  in  Becker's  words, 
that  '  since  the  instruction  in  language  is  in  its  own  nature  theoretital, 
grammar,  especially  the  grammar  of  the  mother-tongue,  shq|||^  be  the 
proper  gymnastic  school,  in  which  the  intellectual  powers  may  be  practised 
and  developed.'  Against  them  stood  the  famous  philologist,  Jacob  Grimm, 
who  urged  that  the  natural  unconscious  growth  of  speech  should  not 
be  stunted  by  'the  misconceived  and  misshapen  rules  of  the  pedant,' 
and  protested  that  the  emphasis  laid  on  grammar  tended  '  to  draw  the 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      1 95 

The  reaction,  however,  was  in  its  essence  directed  against 
the  old  system  of  teaching  grammar,  not  against  the  teaching 
of  grammar  in  itself,  and  systematic  instruction  in  the  inflections, 
syntax,  and  word-order  of  the  native  language  is  now  generally 
accepted  as  a  part  of  higher  elementary  or  secondary  education 
in  all  civilized  countries. 

The  main  objections  urged  against  the  study  of  The  Main 
grammar  are  as  follows  :  _  ffi^Sy  S 

(i)    The  learning  of  a  multitude  of  rules  does  <''^^™°^i^- 
not  help  the  pupil   to  speak  and  write  correctly. 

(2)  The  philosophic  distinctions  of  formal  grammar  are 
meaningless  except  to  the  advanced  student. 

(3)  Exercises  in  the  parsing  and  analysis  of  literature  tend 
to  give  one  a  distaste  both  for  literature  and  for  grammar. 

(4)  The  mental  discipline  supposed  to  be  secured  through 
the  study  of  grammar  may  also  be  secured  in  other  ways,  as  is 
shown  by  many  scientific  or  business  men,  who,  though  with- 
out linguistic  training,  have  been  taught  by  observation  and 
experience  to  think  clearly  and  accurately. 

(5)  Whatever  facts  about  the  language  are  necessary  for  a 
broad  education  may  be  readily  acquired  through  familiarity 
with  good  literature. 

(6)  Whatever  knowledge  of  syntactical  laws  is  necessary 
for  information,  for  mental  discipline,  or  linguistic  training, 
can  be  more  readily  attained  through  the  study  of  Latin. ^ 

(7)  English  is  a  grammarless  tongue. 


immature  mind  of  the  child  to  unfruitful  abstractions  and  dry  reflections.' 
His  protest,  though  seconded  by  men  of  such  influence  as  Wackernagel 
and  Von  Raumer,  had  little  effect  for  twenty  years.  Then  came  the  re- 
action in  his  favour  and  grammar  has  been  deposed  from  the  throne  it 
once  occupied."     F.  H.  Dale,  "  The  Teaching  of  the  Mother  Tongue." 

1  "  An^^nally,  to  the  demand  why,  if  boys  must  study  language  as  a 
means  of  raucation,  can  they  not  study  French  and  German,  —  the  an- 
swer is,  that  the  value  of  the  classical  tongues  as  means  of  education  is 
in  the  very  fact  that  they  are  dead,  and  that  their  structure  is  so  remote 
from  that  of  ours  that  to  dismember  their  sentences  and  reconstruct 
them   according   to  our  own   fashion   of  speaking  is  such   an  exercise  of 


196      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

"  Government,  and  agreement,  and  apposition,  and  gender, 
have  no  place  in  the  construction  of  the  English  sentence ; 
tense  is  confined  to  the  necessary  distinction  between  what  is 
passing,  or  may  pass,  and  what  has  passed,  and  case,  to  the 
simple  expression  of  possession.  This  being  the  condition  of 
the  English  language,  grammar,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word, 
—  z.  <f.,  syntax  according  to  etymology  [better,  on  the  basis  of 
inflection],  —  is  impossible,  for  inflected  forms  and  the  conse- 
quent relations  of  words  are  the  conditions,  sine  qua  7ion,  of 
grammar.  In  speaking  or  writing  English,  we  have  only  to 
choose  the  right  words  and  put  them  into  the  right  places,  re- 
specting no  laws  but  thos'^;  of  reason,  conforming  to  no  order 
but  that  which  we  call  '  logical,'  "  ^ 


Objections        ^^  reply,  it  may  be  urged  :  — - 
Answered.       ^  ^  -^    ^^j^^j  ^^^  ^^^  longer  attempt  to  teach  correct- 
ness of  expression  by  means  of  grammar. 

(2)  That  only  the  simplest  logical  distinctions  are  at- 
tempted in  the  best  modern  teaching  of  grammar.  The  old 
"  metaphysical  "  school  is  rapidly  passing  away,  and  there  is 
little  or  nothing  in  recent  good  text-books  that  cannot  be 
readily  understood  by  a  pupil  of  fifteen  or  sixteen. 

(3)  That  the  old  system  of  multitudinous  exercises  in 
parsing  and  analysis  is  now  discarded,  or  retained  only  in  a 
sufficient  degree  to  make  sure  that  the  pupil  is  capable  of 
understanding  the  structure  of  the  English  sentence. 

(4)  That  no  one  would  deny  that  mental  discipline  can  be 
secured  in  many  ways,  or  that  men  learn  to  think  accurately 
and  hence   to   express    themselves   accurately   and    logically, 


perception,  judgment,  and  memory,  such  a  training  in  thought  and  in  the 
use  of  language,  as  can  be  found  in  no  other  study  or  intellectual  exer- 
tion of  which  immature  and  untrained  persons  of  ordinary  power  are  com- 
petent. To  us  of  English  race  and  speech  this  discipline  is  more  severe, 
and  therefore  more  valuable,  than  to  any  people  of  the  [European]  Con- 
tinent, because  of  the  greater  distance,  in  this  respect,  beTween  our 
own  language  than  between  any  one  of  theirs  and  the  Greek  and  Latin." 
R.  G.  White,  Words  and  their  Uses,  Chapter  IX.,  "  Grammar,  English, 
and  Latin."  See  also  H.  Corson,  Claims  of  Literary  Culture,  1875. 
1  R.  G.  White,  Words  and  their  Uses,  324. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      1 9/ 

through   the  experiences  of  life.     Grammar  merely  aids  this 
process. 

(5)  That,  although  experience  has  shown  that  "correct- 
ness "  is  best  attained,  as  a  rule,  through  familiarity  with  the 
use  of  the  "  standard"  language  in  conversation  and  in  litera- 
ture, experience  also  goes  directly  counter  to  the  assumption 
that  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  principles  of  the 
language  can  be  thus  commonly  acquired,  without  the  help  of 
formal  or  systematic  grammar. 

(6)  That,  although  students  may  gain  a  knowledge  of  the 
syntactical  laws  of  our  language  through  the  study  of  Latin, 
(a)  not  all  pupils  have  the  opportunity  of  studying  Latin; 
{b')  such  a  knowledge  of  English  syntax  is  an  almost  indis- 
pensable preliminary  to  the  study  of  Latin,  as  the  complaints 
of  experienced  Latin  teachers  show ;  and  (r)  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  Latin  grammar  is,  in  many  respects,  so  different  from 
that  of  English  grammar  that  it  seems  absurd  to  learn  by 
partial  inference  what  might  more  easily  be  taught  directly. 

(7)  That  the  well-known  facts  brought  out  by  R.  G.  White 
and  others  do  not  show  that  English  is  a  grammarless  tongue, 
but  only,  so  to  speak,  a  concordless  tongue.  The  objection 
holds  good  against  the  old  conception  of  grammar,  but  has  no 
weight  against  the  modern  conception  of  grammar. 

It  seems  clear,  then,  on  the  whole,  that  the  main  objections 
to  the  study  of  grammar  apply  to  it  as  taught  by  antiquated 
methods,  or  rather  to  antiquated  conceptions  of 
grammar.  The  general  conclusion  seems  to  be, 
on  the  part  of  the  most  thoughtful  teachers,  that  high  school 
pupils  need,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  be  trained  systematically 
in  a  knowledge  of  the  important  facts  relating  to  inflection, 
syntax,  sentence-structure,  word-order,  and  word-composition, 
in  their  native  language.  This  point  of  view,  the  resultant  of 
several  oscillating  changes  during  the  nineteenth  century,  is 
well  expressed  by  Dr.  Samuel  Thurber  :  — 

"  A  certain  amount  of  formal  grammar,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  consider  extremely  important.     The  distinction  of  subject 


198      EA'GLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

and  predicate,  which  is  fundamental  to  thought  and  speech,  is 
comprehensible   even  to   children  younger  "than   high  school 
youth.     The  names  themselves,  like  many  other  grammatical 
terms,  are  not  merely  technical,  but  belong  to  the  vocabulary 
of  educated  persons.     Intelligible  and  interesting  to  youth  are 
the  distinction  of  subject  and  object,  the  distinction  of  princi- 
pal and  subordinate  elements,  the  meaning  of  noun,  verb,  and 
the  parts  of  speech  generally  ;  of  preposition,  number,  gen- 
der, and   finally   of  case,   tense,   mode,  relation,  and  govern- 
ment. .  .  ,  Tracing  grammatical  relations  is  a  most  excellent 
discipline,  and  the  knowledge  in  which  it  issues  is  a  most  use- 
ful knowledge.     Through  parsing  and  analysis  we  gain  facility 
in  following  the  language,  sometimes  difficult  and  involved,  of 
writers  like  Milton.     No  one  can  go  far  in  Shakspere  with- 
out noting  the  peculiarities  of  his  grammar.     And  you  cannot 
conceive  a  beginning  of  a  study  of  a  foreign  language  without 
perpetual  consideration   of  grammatical  topics.     Therefore  I 
recommend  parsing  and  analysis,  to  occupy  a  certain  quantu- 
lum  of  our  precious  English  time.     It  will  not  hurt  a  pupil's 
appreciation  to  parse  a  little  of  Paradise  Lost.     The  opinion 
we  often  hear  expressed  that  to  parse  beautiful  prose  or  verse 
blunts  the  aesthetic   enjoyment  of  it  as  literature,   I  simply 
laugh  at.     The  onslaught  on  grammar  which  culminated  some 
years  ago  was  a  senseless  panic.      Of  late  I  believe  the  educa- 
tional world  is  recovering  its  wits."  ^ 


The  question  now  arises,  How  shall  this  information  be  pre- 
sented to  the  pupil,  how  shall  grammar  be  taught?     In  dis- 
cussing this  question  it  is  fair  to  admit  at  once  that 
How  shall  ^ 

Grammar        the  pupil  cannot  be  left  wholly  to  himself  to  "  pick 
be  Taught?  ,,    ,  -  .     ^  .  ^  ^ 

up  the  separate  facts  referred  to  and  to  gener- 
alize regarding  them.  Under  such  circumstances,  experience 
shows  that  he  would  only  rarely  acquire  the  necessary  infor- 
mation. Nor,  as  we  have  seen,  can  we  depend  exclusiv'ely  on 
the  teacher  of  Latin  or  of  some  modern  foreign  language  to 
present  certain  facts  or  laws  connected  with  the  foreign  lan- 
guage, which  the  pupil  can  by  inference  apply  to  his  own  lan- 


1  "  English   in   Secondary  Schools :    Some  Consideration    as   to   its 
Aims  and  Needs,"  in  School  Review,  II.  468,  540. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      1 99 

guage,  for  it  is  just  this  preliminary  information  as  to  his  own 
language  which  he  needs  to  use  in  acquiring  a  systematic 
knowledge  of  the  foreign  language.  It  may  also  be  regarded 
as  generally  admitted  that  the  pupil  shall  have  learned  pro- 
gressively, from  the  fourth  grade  of  the  elementary  school 
up,  many  of  the  chief  facts  relating  to  the  inflection  and 
syntax  of  English.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  information  we 
have  described  is  already  partly  given  him,  in  the  main,  by 
the  teacher  of  English,  and  that  it  must  now  be  given  him 
systematically.  The  question  under  discussion,  therefore,  is, 
Shall  grammar  be  taught  in  the  high  school  deductively, 
as  it  is  usually  taught  in  the  United  States  and  England  ; 
inductively,  as  is  the  custom  in  Germany ;  or  by  both 
methods  ? 

The  time-honoured  deductive  method  of  teaching  grammar 
in  the  United  States  and  England  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
text-books  of  Mason,  widely  used  in  England,  and  xheDednc- 
of  Whitney,  widely  used  in  the  United  States,  tive  Method. 
The  order  of  procedure  in  each  is  definition,  example,  appli- 
cation. The  pupil  first  learns  the  definition,  for  example,  of 
a  noun  ;  then  notices  examples  of  nouns ;  then  applies  his 
knowledge  to  exercises  in  picking  out  nouns  from  among 
other  words. ^ 

In  Germany,  where  text-books  in  grammar  are  little  used, 
the  method  is  almost  invariably  inductive.  In  Prussia  the  law 
is  that  "  grammatical  instruction  must  be  limited  The  induc- 
to  what  IS  strictly  necessary,  and  must  always  rest  ^ve  Method, 
on  definite  examples.  German  grammar  must  no  longer 
be  treated  in  the  same  way  as  the  grammar  of  foreign 
languages."  ^  The  method  is  thus  further  explained  by  Mr. 
Dale  :  — 


1  Both  books  stand  for  the  method  most  in  use  during  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Other  books  differ  from  this  point  of  view 
only  in  giving  less  emphasis  to  application,  and  more  to  definition  and 
example. 

2  "  Curricula  and  Programmes  of  Work  for  Higher  Schools  in 
Prussia." 


200      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

"  An  instance  of  construction  is  found  in  some  piece  that 
the  class  is  learning ;  the  sentence  is  written  on  the  black- 
board, and  the  boys  look  for  more  examples  of  the  same  kind. 
Under  the  questioning  of  the  teacher,  and  by  comparison  of 
the  instances,  they  gradually  elicit  the  rule,  which,  after  being 
repeated,  is  written  down  in  a  note-book  with  a  model  sen- 
tence. Their  next  piece  of  composition  is  then  so  planned  as 
to  involve  the  use  of  the  construction  already  learned.  Thus 
the  two  steps  on  which  emphasis  are  laid  are:  (i)  that  the 
instance  selected  should  always  be  one  appealing  to  the  chil- 
dren by  its  content;  and  (2)  that  the  rule  should  nev.er  be 
given  but  always  found,  and  when  found,  embodied  in  a  con- 
crete sentence  again.  Abstract  and  universal  statements  are, 
as  far  as  possible,  kept  in  the  background."  ^ 

Either  extreme  seems  equally  absur  :1,  To  teach  grammar 
by  a  set  of  generalizations   destroys,    to  a  considerable   de- 

cti  ^'^^^'  ^^^  value  of  the  training,  though   no  more 

toeitier  than  would  the  same  method  when  employed. in 

Extreme.  ,  ,  •  ^,  , 

any  other  subject.     The  pupil  tends  to  learn  by 

rote,  to  see  only  what  he  is  told  to  see  ;  he  does  not  gain 
the  power  of  observing  and  generalizing  for  himself  on  lin- 
guistic matters  ;  he  conceives  of  grammar  as  a  more  or  less 
formal  philosophy  which  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the 
actual  processes  of  language  as  they  reveal  themselves  in 
conversation,  in  composition,  or  in  literature.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  German  method  is  wasteful  of  time  and  effort. 
Why  devote  hour  after  hour  to  the  discovery  by  induction  of 
laws  that  can  be  easily  stated,  explained,  and  remembered, 
and  to  the  laborious  writing  out  in  exercise-books  of  gen- 
eralizations which  can  be  found  recorded  in  any  elementary 
text-book?'^ 


'  F.  H.  Dale,  "The  Teaching  of  the  Mother  Tongue  in  Germany." 
2  The  wastefulness  of  the  method  in  this  respect  reminds  one  of  the 
solemn  farce  of  the  late  Professor  Zupitza's  lectures  on  the  elements  of 
Anglo-Saxon.  One  of  the  great  scholars  of  his  time,  he  deliberately 
chose  to  spend  weeks  in  dictating  to  a  large  class  of  apparently  earnest 
students  facts  that  any  sensible  person  could  find  in  a  good  text-book 


EXGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATIOiX     201 

The  special  advantage  of  the  German  system  is  that  it 
allows  the  continual  exercise  of  tiie  student  on  grammatical 
principles  throughout  the  whole  course.  Grammar  jjjg  t^^^ 
is  thus  not  the  task  of  a  single  term  or  a  single  ^^^• 
year,  but  of  many  years.  It  is  kept  steadily  in  mind  during 
the  pupil's  entire  secondary  training,  and,  though  rarely  or 
never  appearing  alone  as  a  separate  subject,  it  is  a  constant 
factor  in  the  work  in  composition  and  in  literature.  The  dis- 
advantage of  the  system  lies  wholly  in  its  cumbrousness. 
It  seems  plain,  therefore,  that  American  teachers,  dealing  with 
a  language  which  is  fortunately  far  less  complicated  in  its 
grammar  than  German,  will  find  it  wise  to  retain  their  custom 
of  making  grammar,  for  a  year  or  a  part  of  a  year,  a  separate 
subject  of  systematic  study,  and  to  adopt  the  German  custom 
of  connecting  the  incidental  study  of  grammar  with  all  com- 
position and  literature  throughout  the  course. 

In  schools  where,   owing   to   local   causes   of  one   sort  or 

another,   a  large    proportion    of   the    pupils    are    children  of 

foreign  immigrants  or  come  from  families  of  the 

,,  °,  .  Essential 

unintelligent  class,  it  may  often  be  necessary,  in   Parts  of 

,  .  .     .  .  ,      ,       Grammar. 

teaching  grammar,  to  return  to  primitive  methods, 

and  to  regard  the  study  as  a  special  instrument  for  securing 

syntactical  correctness.     In  such  cases  emphasis  will  be  thrown 

on  the  accurate  knowledge  of  the  inflectional  system  and  the 

few  laws  of  concord,  and  abundant  exercises  are  desirable. 

Where,  however,  as  will  normally  be  the  case  throughout  the 

United  States,  pupils  are  fairly  well  accustomed  to  the  use  of 

good  English  in  point  of  syntax  and  inflection,  the  emphasis 

of  the  course  should  be  laid  on  the  analysis  and  structure  of 

the   sentence.     The    facts  of   inflection    and    syntax   can    be 

quickly  learned.     The  essential  thing  is  that  the  pupil  shall 

be  able  to   separate  any  ordinary  English  sentence    into    its 


and  commit  to  memory  at  his  convenience.  What  we  craved,  in  such 
university  lectures,  was  the  comments  and  explanations  of  a  great 
scholar;  what  we  received  was  largely  a  mass  of  comparatively  trivial 
facts,  easily  obtainable  elsewhere,  but  none  the  less  written  down  with 
trustful  solemnity  by  the  spectacled  band  of  novices. 


202      EXGLISH  IN  SECOXDARY  EDUCATIOX 

component  parts  and  to  state  the  relation  of  each  to  the 
others.  The  boy  who  once  learns  this  simple  process  can 
never  forget  it,  for  it  becomes  immediately  the  first  guiding 
principle  in  the  understanding  of  all  that  he  reads  and  in  the 
composition  of  all  that  he  says  or  writes. 

The  older  method  was  to  begin  the  study  of  systematic 
grammar  with  the  classification  of  words.  Each  part  of 
Plan  of  speech  was  then  taken  up  separately,  its  inflections 

Instruction.  (if  any)  described,  the  sub-classifications  indicated, 
and  a  method  given  for  parsing  each  type  of  word.  Having 
thus  mastered  the  preliminary  data,  the  pupil  was  taught  how 
words  could  be  combined  into  phrases  and  clauses,  and  how, 
either  separately  or  in  these  group-forms,  he  could  build  up 
sentences  of  various  degrees  of  complexity.  He  was  thus 
prepared  for  the  analysis  of  sentences.  Nowadays  the  pupil 
usually  has  learned,  in  the  various  stages  of  elementary  in- 
struction, to  distinguish  several  of  the  parts  of  speech  and  to 
recognize  the  subject  and  the  predicate  in  easy  sentences. 
The  method  of  systematic  instruction  may,  under  such  circum- 
stances, be  somewhat  modified.  It  is  possible,  after  a  brief 
sur\'ey  of  the  parts  of  speech,  to  begin  immediately  the  work 
oi^  analysis,  returning  later  to  the  more  careful  consideration 
of  the  parts  of  speech. 

The  point  at  issue,  whether  any  considerable  treatment  of 
the  larger  unit  (the  sentence)  is  of  advantage  until  the  pupil 
has  mastered  the  details  relating  to  the  smaller  unit  (the  word), 
is  precisely  analogous  to  the  similar  point  often  raised  in 
connection  with  the  teaching  of  systematic  rhetoric,  whether 
it  is  advantageous  to  take  up  the  paragraph  before  studying 
the  structure  of  the  sentence.  In  the  case  of  grammar,  it  is 
clear  that  the  interest  of  the  student  will  be  stimulated,  and 
his  appreciation  of  the  real  purpose  of  his  work  heightened, 
by  some  work  on  the  sentence  as  early  as  possible  in  the 
course,  although  we  think  it  wiser  to  postpone  the  thorough 
consideration  of  the  sentence  until  the  pupil  is  familiar  with 
the  details  of  classification,  inflection,  syntax,  and  the  analysis 
of  phrases. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     203 

Many  just  objections   have   been   brought  against  the   old 

system  of  parsing  :  — 

(i)    Parsing  was  carried  to  such  an  extreme,  especially  in 

connection  witli  certain  classics,  that  it  killed  all 

Parsing, 
appreciation  of  them  as  literature. 

(2)  Too  much  stress  was  laid  on  concord.  English  ad- 
jectives were  said  to  agree  with  their  nouns,  for  instance,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  Latin  grammarians.^ 

(3)  Parsing  fostered  the  un-English  idea  that  each  word 
was  somehow  created  as  one  or  another  part  of  speech,  instead 
of  being,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  symbol  sometimes  capable  of 
several  uses  under  several  sets  of  circumstances. 

The  modern  ideas  about  parsing,  on  the  other  hand,  are  :  — 
(i)  That  the  exercise  should  be  used  only  as  a  drill  pre- 
liminary to  analysis.  The  pupil  needs  to  be  trained  in  the 
statement  of  the  relations  of  single  words  to  each  other  until 
he  is  sufficiently  familiar  with  these  relations  to  recognize  them 
instinctively.  He  is  then  ready  to  go  on  with  the  more  com- 
plex task  of  separating  sentences  into  their  component  phrases 
and  clauses.  Into  this  work  parsing  need  not  enter  to  any 
considerable  extent. 

(2)  That  parsing  should  be  made  as  simple  as  possible. 
The  pupil  should  not  be  asked  to  indicate  agreement  when 
agreement  does  not  actually  exist,  and,  after  he  has  once 
learned  to  recognize  the  case,  number,  voice,  mood,  or  tense 
of  words,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  him  to  continue  indicating 
them  in  parsing,  unless  occasionally  for  purposes  of  review. 
Parsing  thus  reduces  itself  to  ((?)  a  statement  of  the  class  of 
words  to  which  the  word  in  question  belongs,  and  {b)  a  state- 
ment of  its  function  in  the  sentence. 

(3)  That  parsing  should  be  made  as  Uttle  as  possible  of 
a  mechanical  exercise.  There  is  danger  that  pupils  may  catch, 
so  to  speak,   the   knack  of  parsing,   following    some    routine 


1  The  best  statement  of  the  absurdities  of  "agreement"  is  that  before 
referred  to,  the  chapter  "A  Grammarless  Tongue,"  in  R.  G.  White's 
Words  and  their  Uses. 


204      EXGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

method,  and  developing  a  strange  faculty  for  stating,  after 
this  fashion,  linguistic  relations  which  they  do  not  really 
recognize. 

If  parsing  be  thus  shorn  of  its  useless  attachments  of 
"agreement"  and  other  non-existent  relations,  it  practically 
Parsing  and  reduces  itself  to  analysis  on  a  smaller  scale,  \^'e 
Analysis.  parse  when  we  show  by  the  form  or  position  of  a 
word  that  it  bears  a  certain  relation  to  other  words.  Parsing 
we  usually  apply  to  separate  words,  and  we  associate  with  it 
the  attempt  to  indicate  minute  details  of  sentence  structure, 
though  of  course  the  parsing  of  a  noun  or  a  verb  may  at  any 
time  lead  us  to  the  fundamental  analysis  of  a  sentence. 
Best  employed  as  a  preliminary  exercise,  it  assists  the  pupil 
in  developing  the  power  to  recognize  at  once  the  relation 
of  one  word  to  another  in  any  group  of  words  which  he  can 
without  difficulty  hold  in  his  mind  as  a  unit.  Analysis  we 
usually  associate  with  the  dissection  of  long  or  intricate  sen- 
tences into  their  component  parts,  feeling  that  when  this 
larger  analysis  is  accomplished  we  shall  have  little  difficulty 
in  applying  the  smaller  process  of  analysis  which  we  call 
parsing. 

With  regard  to  analysis  teachers  are  generally  agreed  :  — 

(i)  That  the  process  should  be  made  as  simple  as  possible. 

(2)  That  it  should,  so  far  as  possible,  be  done  without  the 
help  of  diagrams.  The  aim  of  the  exercise  is  that  the  pupil 
Analysis  and  should  gain  the  power,  possessed  by  all  educated 
tie  Diagram,  people,  of  recognizing,  as  he  reads,  the  relation 
that  the  parts  of  a  sentence  bear  to  each  other.  The  use 
of  the  diagram  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  merely  a  possible 
stage  in  the  process.  The  intelligent  pupil  may  not  need 
it  at  all,  and,  if  a  class  can  be  trained  in  analysis  with- 
out requiring  the  diagram  for  purposes  of  understanding, 
it  seems  wrong  to  force  upon  it  the  use  of  the  diagram 
simply  for  the  convenience  of  the  teacher.  It  would  appear 
wise,  then,  {a)  not  to  use  tiiagrams  unless  necessary ;  and 
(3)  if  they  are  necessarj',  to  discard  them  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  they    have  served  their  purpose,    substituting   the 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     205 

oral  or  written  statement  of  the  pupil  as  to  the  main  facts  of 
structure.^ 

(3)  That,  if  a  system  of  diagrams  be  used,  it  should  be  a 
very  simple  one. 

(4)  That  pains  should  be  taken  that  the  pupil  does  not 
acquire  facility  in  making  diagrams  as  a  mechanical  process 
without  actually  acquiring  the  power  of  intelligent  analysis. 
This  result  may  often  be  best  attained  by  having  the  pupil  use 
several  systems  of  diagrams,  inventing  or  adapting  them  as 
graphical  methods  of  expressing  grammatical  relations. 

On  no  point  does  the  teacher  of  English  grammar  need 
more  to  stand  on  his  guard  than  in  the  matter  of  looking  at 
English  sentences  with  Latin  e3'es.  For  centuries  Latin-English 
the  makers  of  text-books  of  English  grammar  have  Grammar, 
been  men  trained  in  highly  inflected  classical  languages,  wholly 
different  from  English  in  form,  method,  and  spirit.  The 
consequence  has  been  that  until  very  recent  years  we  have 
been  treating  English  as  if  it  were  Latin  or  Greek.  Even 
now  many  teachers  do  not  realize,  so  great  is  the  hold  of 
tradition,  that  English  nouns  rarely  have  gender  and  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  more  than  two  cases,  that  pure 
adjectives  never  "  agree  "  with  their  substantives,  and  that 
verbs  rarely  "  agree  "  with  their  subjects.  It  seems  wise  to 
do  away,  so  far  as  possible,  with  all  distinctions  that  apply  to 
other  languages  but  not  to  ours,  and  resolutely  to  set  ourselves 
to  look  at  our  own  language  in  the  light  of  fact.^ 

One  of  the  most   striking  achievements  of  the  nineteenth 
century  has  been  the  conquest  by  scholars  of  the  data  relating 
to  the  development  of  the  modern  languages,  — 
a  conquest  scientific  in  method,  but  romantic  in   Taught*^ 
the  passionate  devotion  shown  by  generations  of      ^  °"*^    ^' 
tireless  investigators.     It  is  now  possible  for  the  trained  mind 


^  After  all,  the  best  clue  as  to  whether  a  pupil  can  analyze  a  sentence  is 
often  whether  he  can  read  it  aloud  intelligently  and  with  proper  emphasis. 

-  Perhaps  the  greatest  aid  that  can  be  secured  from  treatises  in  this 
process  will  be  obtained  from  H.  Sweet's  A  A^ew  English  Gratnrnar, 
Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  2  vols.,  1S92  and  1898. 


206      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

to  grasp  the  whole  sequence  of  changes  through  which 
Enghsh  words  have  passed  before  reaching  their  present 
forms  and  relations,  just  as  it  is  possible  for  the  well-trained 
mind  to  grasp  the  changes  of  form  and  structure  by  which  the 
horse,  the  magnificent  animal  of  to-day,  has  been  developed 
from  the  odd  little  five-toed  beast  of  the  Eocene  era.  Fresh 
from  such  linguistic  researches,  it  is  only  natural  that  ardent 
philologists  have  been  eager  to  teach  the  grammar  of  Modern 
English  by  showing  the  evolution  of  the  modern  tongue  through 
Early  English  and  Middle  English.  The  best  plea  for  this 
method  is  that  made  by  Prof.  Mark  Liddell,  who  says  :  — 

"  We  have  in  English  historical  grammar  a  subject  that  is 
scientific,  practical,  and  of  great  educational  value,  and,  more- 
over, a  subject  which  can  be  taught  in  an  elementary  way  to 
young  students,  and  can  at  the  same  time  furnish  a  field  for 
original  scientific  work  in  university  teaching.  Why  should  it 
not  be  easily  possible  to  put  it  in  the  place  that  dogmatic 
grammar  used  to  occupy?  Why  is  it  necessary  to  wait  until 
a  student  is  nearly  through  with  a  university  course  to  give 
him  a  scientific  view  of  the  machinery  he  thinks  with?  It 
would  not  be  difficult  to  teach  anybody  to  read  Old  English 
at  the  time  when  he  begins  to  read  Latin,  to  continue  the 
work  by  teaching  him  to  read  Middle  English,  and  then  to 
put  upon  this  elementary  work,  which  need  only  be  such  as 
will  give  him  the  power  roughly  to  read  his  own  language  in 
any  period  in  its  history,  a  more  or  less  thorough  training  in 
English  historical  grammar.  It  is  not  necessary  to  make  him 
speak  Old  English  or  Middle  English,  or  even  to  seek  native 
idioms  in  his  own  use  of  language.  But  surely  a  student  with 
an  accurate  and  correct  knowledge  of  what  his  language  is  will 
be  able  to  use  it  with  more  ease  and  power  than  one  without 
such  knowledge."  ^ 

Strong  as  this  plea  is,  there  are  two  even  stronger  objections 
to  be  urged  against  it.     First,  the  plan  is  not  well  adapted  to 
secondary  education.     To  study  the  modern  lan- 
guage through  its  earlier  forms  would  involve  the 
work  of  several  years.     Not  one  high  school  student  in  ten, 


1  "English  Historical  Grammar,"  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1S98. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     20/ 

perhaps  not  one  in  a  hundred,  would  be  justified  in  the  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  effort  required.  The  method  is,  at 
best,  adapted  only  to  college  instruction.  Second,  even  if 
the  system  could  be  adopted  in  high  schools,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  would  be  advisable  on  the  basis  of  sane  educational 
theory  and  practice.  The  palaeontologist,  and  perhaps  the 
expert  veterinary  surgeon,  should  perhaps  know  the  evolution 
of  the  horse,  but  the  actual  user  of  the  horse,  the  driver,  has 
no  need  of  such  knowledge.  His  training  must  come  through 
the  practical  handling  of  the  present-day  animal  under  diverse 
circumstances,  and  from  such  an  understanding  of  his  main 
characteristics  a^d  capabilities  as  shall  spring  from  simple 
theory  and  wide  experience.  English  grammar,  the  group  of 
facts  and  principles  that  has  to  do  with  our  handling  of  the 
present  language,  is  self-explanatory,  self-determining,  regu- 
lated by  the  feelings,  associations,  and  practices  of  to-day, 
without  regard  to  its  ancestry.  To  follow  its  evolution  is 
highly  interesting  to  the  professed  student  of  language,  but 
not  of  great  importance  to  the  people  at  large.^ 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  modern  grammarian  feels  that 
he  has  little  to  do,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  with  "  cor- 
rectness," or  with  the  reasonableness  or  logic  of  pj^iaed  Usage 
given  expressions.  We  no  longer  consider  it  our  "^  Grammar. 
duty  to  condemn  "had  rather"  because  it  cannot  be  parsed 
under  such  and  such  rules,  and  to  set  up  "  would  rather  "  as  a 
more  logical  phrase.  On  the  contrary,  we  treat  "  had  rather  " 
as  an  existing  fact,  —  a  fact  to  be  explained  or  classified,  if 
necessary,  but  not  to  be  changed.  The  first  and  greatest  prin- 
ciple of  modern  grammar  is  that  the  standard  of  our  language 
is  the  usage  of  intelligent  and  educated  English-speaking 
people,  and  that  the  business  of  modern  grammar  is  to  record 


1  This  paragraph  is  to  be  understood  as  applying  only  to  the  historical 
method  of  teaching  modern  English  grammar,  and  not  to  the  incidental 
use  of  appropriate  historical  information  in  the  course  of  instruction  in 
systematic  modern  grammar,  nor  as  applying  to  the  possible  study  of 
historical  English  grammar,  or  of  Old  or  Middle  English,  during  the  last 
year  of  the  high  school. 


2o8      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

and  classify  that  usage,  so  far  as  regards  the  inflectional  forms 
of  words  and  the  relation  that  words  bear  to  one  another  when 
used  in  sentences.  It  is  the  custom  of  intelligent  and  educated 
English-speaking  people  to  say,  "  he  struck  tnc  "  and  ''  /  struck 
him,"  and  the  laws  of  pronominal  inflection  are  based  on  these 
typical  facts.  If,  however,  in  some  inconceivable  fashion,  the 
users  of  the  language  should  come  to  drop  all  distinction  be- 
tween /and  me  and  he  and  him,  as  they  have  dropped  the  old 
distinction  between  ye  and  you,  and  should  say  "  him  struck 
w^"and"w<f  struck  him,"  then  grammar  would  simply  change 
its  generalizations  about  pronominal  inflection.  "Reason,"  in 
the  formal  or  logical  sense,  does  not  enter  into  the  question  at  all. 
Now,  there  are  a  few  grammatical  points  on  which  the  practice 
of  intelligent  speakers  and  writers  differ,  as,  for  instance,  the 
much  discussed  question  of  the  split  infinitive.  At  first  the 
users  of  the  new  form  were  so  few  that  the  grammarians  ignored 
them ;  then,  as  their  number  grew,  the  scientific  grammarians 
called  attention  to  the  apparent  anomaly,  usually  expressing 
their  regret  at  the  turn  affairs  were  taking ;  finally,  as  the  num- 
ber increased  very  considerably,  the  scientific  grammarians  felt 
bound  to  restate  their  previous  deduction  in  such  a  way  as  to 
cover  both  forms  of  expression.  These  double  forms  of  ex- 
pression —  another  good  example  of  which  is  "  all  but  I  went  " 
and  "  all  but  me  went" — are  now  generally  known  as  in- 
stances of  divided  usage. 

With  regard  to  the  place  to  be  given  to  the  double  forms  of 
expression  in  the  teaching  of  English  grammar,  there  are  three 
opinions.  One  body  of  teachers,  especially  those 
Instruction,  giving  to  grammar  a  sort  of  "verbal  inspiration," 
think  that  divided  usage  should  be  wholly  excluded.  One 
form  must  be  right,  they  would  say,  and  another  wrong.  A 
second  class,  more  scientific  in  its  attitude,  would  acknowledge 
the  position  held  by  divided  use  in  an  ideal  statement  of 
English  grammar,  but  would  prefer  to  ignore  it  as  much  as 
possible,  lest  pupfls  should  be  puzzled  and  confused.  A  third 
would  be  inclined  to  give  cases  of  divided  usage,  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  a  certain  prominence,  that  pupils  might 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     209 

get  the  greater  insight  into  the  nature  of  language  and  of  hn- 
guistic  laws.  I  am  disposed  to  favor  the  opinion  last  men- 
tioned.    It  must  be  remarked,  however,  that  — 

(i)  This  does  not  mean  that  the  teacher  should  sanction 
what  he  conceives  to  be  unwarrantable  license  in  usage.  After 
showing,  for  example,  that  there  are  two  ways  of  placing  the 
adverbial  modifier  of  the  infinitive,  he  may  with  perfect  pro- 
priety explain  why  he  regards  one  way  as  far  less  desirable  than 
the  other. 

(2)  Nor  does  it  mean  that  pupils  should  necessarily  be 
allowed  their  choice  in  such  cases,  though  I  believe  that  would 
be  the  wiser  plan.  The  instructor  may  announce,  after  an 
explanation  of  the  facts,  that,  for  purposes  of  uniformity,  one 
of  the  two  forms  will  be  regarded  as  the  standard  form  in  that 
class,  precisely  as  a  principal  may  with  propriety  announce 
that,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity,  traveller,  traveler,  and  similar 
words  should  in  that  school  regularly  be  spelled  in  one  way 
and  not  in  the  other. 

(3)  On  no  point  is  personal  feeling  more  likely  to  be  aroused 
than  on  questions  of  divided  usage,  and  on  no  point  is  discus- 
sion likely  to  be  less  satisfactory  unless  carried  on  in  the  most 
impersonal  and  scientific  fashion.  Whenever  anybody  seems 
inclined  to  lose  his  temper,  the  treatment  of  such  matters  had 
better  be  immediately  postponed  or  dismissed  once  for  all. 

So  much  for  the  basis,  aim,'  and  method  of  the  instruction 

in  formal  grammar.     But  where  shall  the  course    be  placed? 

Some  favour  the  last  years  of  the  elementary  school, 

^  .  The  Tune 

with  a  review  towards  the  end  of  the  high  school  to  Teach 

-    ,       ,  .   ,         ,       ,  Grammar. 
course  ;  others,  the  first  year  of  the  high  school. 

The  solution  seems  to  depend  upon  circumstances  rather  than 
upon  theory.  In  favoured  communities,  where  literary  tra- 
ditions are  strong,  the  gradual  inductive  study  of  grammar 
may  properly  be  supplemented  in  the  seventh  or  eighth 
grade  by  the  systematic  study,  which  need  not  be  again 
taken  up  until  late  in  the  high  school  course,  if  at  all.  The 
supplementary  study  of  grammar,  of  which  we  shall  speak  in 
the  next  paragraph,  can  be  relied  on  to  keep  the  principles  of 

14 


210     ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

the  subject  fresh  in  the  pupil's  mind.  On  the  other  hand,  ex- 
perience shows  that,  taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  not  many 
children  enter  the  high  school  with  what  may  be  called  a  suffi- 
cient working  knowledge  of  systematic  grammar,  and  it  would 
seem  clear  that  in  most  cases  the  time  in  the  elementary  schools 
could  have  been  more  wisely  spent  on  literature  and  composi- 
tion and  the  inductive  study  of  grammar  in  connection  with 
them.  Pupils  entering  the  high  school  without  a  good  working 
knowledge  of  English  grammar  should  certainly  be  put  at  once 
to  work  on  it,  for  it  is  the  essential  preliminary  to  all  high  school 
work  in  English  as  well  as  in  other  languages.  Under  favour- 
able circumstances,  and  with  a  skilled  and  judicious  teacher, 
the  course  may  be  completed  in  half  a  year.  Except  in  ex- 
traordinary cases  it  should  be  completed  in  a  year. 

When  the  course  of  formal  instruction  in  systematic  grammar 

stops,  it  is  a  grave  mistake,  I  believe,  to  allow  the  subject  to 

drop  entirely  from  the  pupil's  mind  ;  first,  because 

tary  Workin  he  must  keep  fresh  such  knowledge  as  he  has,  and, 
Grammar.  i   ,  ,      ,  , 

second,  because  he  has  much  more  to  learn.     As  a 

matter  of  fact,  however,  American  practice  is   weak  in  this 

respect,  encouraging  the  student,  in  effect,  to  discontinue  his 

efforts  just  when  his  need  of  grammar  is  greatest  and  when  its 

connection  with  his  work  in  composition  and  literature  is  most 

evident  and  important. 

So  far  as  rhetoric  and  composition  are  concerned,  the  points 
most  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  this  supplementary  work  seem  to 
be  as  follows  :  — 

(i)  All  errors  in  grammar  should  be  corrected  at  once  and 
with  emphasis.  There  are,  indeed,  few  that  a  pupil  could 
make,  after  the  thorough  preliminary  training  which  the  second 
high  school  year  presupposes,  unless  he  has  been  unfortunate 
in  his  home  influences  or  has  some  other  tongue  than  English 
as  his  native  speech.  Pupils  who,  at  this  stage  in  their  edu- 
cation, seem  to  have  anythmg  like  a  habit  of  ungrammatical 
expression  need  further  special  training. 

(2)  The  ability  to  make  a  clear-cut,  well-proportioned 
English  sentence    depends  primarily  upon   the    grammatical 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     211 

instinct,  —  upon  a  keen  sense  of  the  relations  which  words  or 
groups  of  words  bear  to  each  other.  The  teacher,  therefore, 
will  often  find  that  pupils  whose  sentences  are  ungainly  and 
sprawling  are  in  need  of  further  drill  in  grammar,  and  can 
with  profit  be  put  to  analyzing  their  own  sentences  and,  under 
proper  direction,  to  rearranging  the  various  elements  in  them. 

With  the  study  of  literature,  which  should  be  pursued  con- 
secutively throughout  the  high  school  course,  this  supplement- 
ary teaching  of  grammar  has  even  closer  connections  :  — 

(i)  Whenever  there  seems  to  be  the  slightest  doubt,  espe- 
cially in  the  work  of  the  first  and  second  years,  that  the  pupil 
does  not  understand  the  meaning  of  a  sentence,  the  teacher's 
first  duty  —  unless  tlie  failure  to  grasp  the  thought  comes 
from  ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  —  should  be  to 
make  sure  that  the  pupil  can  analyze  the  sentence,  so  as  to 
recognize  its  essential  elements  and  their  grammatical  relations. 
When  this  has  been  done,  it  will  often  be  found  that  the 
pupil's  difficulty  has  been  solved. 

(2)  During  the  literature  work  of  the  first  and  second  years 
it  is  wise  to  require,  during  each  recitation,  the  oral  analysis  of 
at  least  one  sentence  and  the  parsing  of  several  words.  In 
this  respect  the  study  of  English  literature  should  differ  only  in 
degree  from  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  In  his 
reading  of  Homer  and  Virgil  the  pupil  is  constantly  alive  not 
only  to  the  fact  that  his  knowledge  of  grammar  is  helping  him 
to  understand  what  he  reads,  but  to  the  much  more  impressive 
fact  that  his  instructor  is  likely  at  any  point  to  test  his  under- 
standing of  the  text  by  pertinent  grammatical  questions.  It 
would  be  rash  to  carry  this  method  too  far  in  the  study  of 
English  literature,  lest,  as  is  very  often  the  sad  case  with 
Homer  and  Virgil,  the  content  be  neglected  for  the  outward 
form ;  but  it  is  certainly  wise  not  to  allow  the  pupil  to  lose 
sight,  in  his  study  of  English  literature,  of  the  grammatical 
construction  until  it  has  become  second  nature  with  him  to 
recognize  it  as  he  reads. 

(3)  So  far  the  supplementary  teaching  of  grammar  has 
been  used  only  for  purposes  of  review.     It  can  also  be  em- 


212       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

ployed  to  give  the  pupil  fresh  knowledge.  He  can  learn 
through  it  —  in  connection  with  his  reading  and  under  the 
direction  of  his  teacher  —  all  the  more  minute  details  of  sys- 
tematic grammar,  with  which  it  is  useless  to  surcharge  the 
memory  during  the  course  of  formal  instruction.  Such,  for 
example,  are  the  various  anomalies  of  plural-making  and  the 
few  other  oddities  of  the  scant  system  of  English  inflection,  the 
shades  of  meaning  indicated  by  the  subjunctive,  and,  above  all 
else,  the  laws  of  shall  and  will  as  used  in  literary  English. 
The  intricate  set  of  idioms  just  mentioned  cannot  easily  be 
learned  by  rote.  In  his  formal  study  of  grammar  and  rhetoric 
the  pupil  may  come  to  understand  the  principles  involved,  but 
unless  he  has  been  familiar  from  childhood  with  the  distinctions 
he  will  not  thus  learn  to  apply  them.  His  only  chance,  there- 
fore, of  mastering  this  baffling  shibboleth  of  English  speech  lies 
in  his  drill  in  composition  and  his  work  in  literature.  Through 
these,  even  if  he  does  not  learn  invariably  to  distinguish  in 
his  own  speech  between  shall  and  will,  he  can  at  least  be  pre- 
served from  the  shame  of  not  being  able  to  recognize  the  finer 
shades  of  meaning  in  his  own  language  which  these  two  words 
often  indicate. 

Etymology  or  word-composition  was  once  a  conspicuous 
part  of  formal  grammar,  and  hapless  youths  were  forced  to 
learn  lists  of  meaningless  prefixes  and  suffixes  from 
°°^'''  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Anglo-Saxon.  But  such 
days  are  past  or  are  rapidly  passing.  We  still  recognize  the 
desirability  of  giving  the  pupil  information  on  these  subjects, 
but  we  prefer  to  do  it  incidentally  rather  than  systematically. 
It  would,  indeed,  be  possible,  if  all  high  school  children  should 
be  obliged  to  study  Latin,  to  base  on  the  elements  of  that 
study  a  short  systematic  course  on  the  Latin  side  of  etymology. 
As  it  is,  the  case  of  a  formal  and  elaborate  course  in  etymology 
is  hopeless,  for,  to  understand  what  they  were  doing,  pupils 
should  have  some  knowledge  of  both  Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon, 
whereas  few  are  acquainted  with  the  first  and  none  with  the 
second.  Much,  however,  may  be  accomplished  by  a  method 
which  is  by  no  means  unsystematic,  but  can  scarcely  be  called 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     213' 

fonnal  or  deductive  ;  we  refer  to  the  same  process  of  incidental 
or  supplementary  teaching  which  proves  of  so  much  value  in 
connection  with  the  study  of  systematic  grammar.  Early  in  the 
high  school  course  the  teacher  should  find  occasion  to  point  out 
such  Latin  prefixes  as  trans  ox  post,  perhaps  allowing  the  class 
to  gain  this  meaning  by  induction  from  their  use  in  English 
words  ;  other  common  prefixes  or  suffixes,  whether  of  Latin, 
Greek,  or  Old  English  origin,  should  in  successive  days  be 
taken  up,  until  the  class  has,  within  the  course  of  several 
weeks,  thus  learned  all  the  common  prefixes,  and  suffixes,  of^ 
whatever  origin.  For  the  first  year  this  work  would  prob- 
ably be  sufficient,  so  far  as  etymology  goes,  though  the  in- 
structor should  often  call  attention  to  the  history  of  English 
words,  as  they  occur  in  the  study  of  various  masterpieces,  and 
to  notable  changes  of  meaning.  In  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  years,  when  some  of  the  pupils  are  studying  Latin  or 
Greek  or  both,  and  some  French  or  German,  the  time  is  ripe 
for  the  incidental  study  of  the  Greek,  Latin,  French,  and  Old 
English  elements  in  English  words,  for  the  tracing  of  the  his- 
tory of  queer  words,  or  words  that  have  had  strange  fortunes, 
and  for  interesting  talks  on  the  history  of  the  language,  its  re- 
markable characteristics,  and  the  nature  and  composition  of 
its  vocabulary.  The  whole  forms  one  of  the  most  stimulating 
and  valuable  sides  of  English  instruction,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  lay  down  rules  or  principles  for  the  guidance  of  the  novice. 
Nothing  but  real  learning  will  enable  the  teacher  to  give  his 
pupil  sound  facts ;  nothing  but  real  skill,  born  of  practice  and 
forethought,  will  enable  him  to  present  the  facts  at  the  time 
and  in  the  way  that  will  alone  cause  them  to  be  appreciated 
and  remembered.^ 


1  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  text-books  will  be  prepared  which  shall  place 
pertinent  information  of  this  sort  at  the  disposition  of  the  teacher  who  is 
untrained  in  philology.  An  e.xxellent  beginning  is  made  in  J.  M.  Ander- 
son's A  Study  of  English  Words,  American  Book  Company,  1897,  which 
will  serve  as  a  guide  to  the  general  character  of  the  matter  described 
above.  Trench's  English  Past  and  Present  and  On  the  Study  of  Words 
long  were  of  great  value  in  this  regard,  and  were  the  main  source  of  cur- 


214     ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

Prosody,  or  the  theory  of  versification,  was  originally  treated 
as  a  part  of  systematic  grammar,  though  usually  in  a  per- 
functory fashion  and  according  to  a  false  system. 
In  more  recent  years  it  does  not  seem  often  to  be 
treated  at  all,  and  the  ignorance  of  the  subject  among  young 
people  is  simply  appalling.  It  is  not  ignorance  of  technical 
details,  but  ignorance  of  matters  vital  to  any  appreciation  of 
verse.  They  do  not  know  how  to  read  it  or  how  to  feel  it ; 
they  miss  all  the  beauty  that  comes  from  the  simplest  knowl- 
edge of  poetical  forms.  But  this  ignorance  is  easily  done 
away  with.  A  few  lessons,  a  little  simple  explanation  patiently 
repeated,  and  the  idea  is  plain  :  they  see  how  words  may  be 
grouped,  according  to  their  accents,  into  lines  or  verses,  and 
these  lines  grouped,  usually  by  rhyme,  into  stanzas.  It  is  hard 
to  decide  at  what  times  pupils  may  best  be  given  this  instruc- 
tion. Much  of  it  should  have  been  given  incidentally,  from 
the  earliest  grades  of  the  elementary  school  up,  in  connection 
with  each  piece  of  verse  that  has  been  read.  But  at  some 
one  time  or,  indeed,  at  several  times,  in  the  high  school, 
it  is  wise  to  bring  together  and  supplement  this  rapidly 
accumulating  stock  of  information,  that  the  pupil  may  feel 
that  he  understands  the  system  of  English  verse  as  a  system.^ 
A  convenient  time  for  getting  a  first  glimpse  into  the 
system  of  English  versification  occurs  undoubtedly  in  con- 
nection with  the  course  in  formal  grammar.  After  much 
supplementary  and  incidental  instruction  in  connection  with 
the  work  in  English  literature,  the  subject  may  again  be 
taken  up  in  connection  with  the  more  advanced  work  in 
rhetoric. 


rent  information  on  such  subjects,  but  the  rapid  progress  of  philological 
research  has  invalidated  many  of  the  observations  and  generaUzations 
contained  in  them.  A  sound  treatment  of  much  the  same  topics  will  be 
found  in  the  similar  manual  recently  prepared  by  Professors  Greenough 
and  Kittredge,  Words  and  their  Ways  in  E7iglisk  Sj>eech,'i^l?.cm.i\\2ir\,  1901. 
Much  use  may  also  be  made  of  the  Oxford  iVnv  English  Dictionary. 

1  If  he  has  studied  Virgil,  he  is  quite  likely  to  have  gained,  by  infer- 
ence, an  almost  completely  false  notion  of  English  versification,  which 
has  little  in  common  with  the  Latin  system. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     21 S 

II.    Language  :    Old  and  Middle  English 

It  is  frequently  urged  that  some  attention  should  be  paid  in 

our  secondary  schools,  as  is  done  in  those  of  other  countries, 

to  the  older  forms  of  the  native  lan2;uasre  and  lit- 

„,,,,.  ,  .  °     f  Study  of  Old 

erature.      I  he   following  subjects  are    those   most  and  Middle 

generally  suggested  for  such  study  :  —  ^s     ■ 

( 1 )  The  histofj  of  the  English  language.  The  object  would 
be  to  give  the  pupil  some  idea  of  the  general  relation  to  each 
other  of  the  main  branches  of  the  Indo-Aryan  stock  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  Germanic  languages ;  the  difference  between 
synthetic  and  analytic  languages ;  the  chief  characteristics  of 
Old  English  ;  the  changes  that,  coming  from  within  or  acting 
from  without,  turned  Old  English  into  Middle  English,  and 
Middle  English  into  New  English ;  and  such  information  re- 
garding historical  English,  grammar,  phonetics,  etymology, 
and  cognate  matter  as  may  be  suited  to  his  comprehension. 
Text-books  dealing  with  the  subject  are  likely  to  be  either 
simple  and  unscientific,  or  scientific  but  not  simple  enough  for 
the  young  student,  and  this  fact,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  such 
instruction  can  scarcely  be  given  except  by  a  teacher  thoroughly 
trained  in  English  philology,  makes  the  subject  one  not  likely 
to  be  taken  up  in  most  schools.  It  is,  however,  plain  that 
under  skilful  direction  the  ground  indicated  could  be  covered 
in  lectures  and  recitations  during  half  of  the  last  high  school 
year. 

(2)  Old  English.  It  is  likewise  plain  that,  under  similar 
conditions,  fourth-year  pupils  could  in  half  a  year  gain  a  fairly 
adequate  reading  knowledge  of  early  Anglo-Saxon  prose. 

(3)  Middle  E?iglish.  An  equal  period  would  also  be 
sufficient  to  introduce  pupils  to  Chaucer  and  to  give  them  the 
same  degree  of  proficiency  in  reading. 

It  would  obviously  be  absurd  to  put  such  studies  previous 
to  the  fourth  year,  and  few  or  none  would  be  willing  even  then 
to  prescribe  them  for  all  students.     For  presenting  pavourabie 
them  as  elective  studies  for  the  fourth  year,  par-   Argruments. 
ticularly  for  well-advanced  pupils  who  are  not  going  to  college, 


2l6      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

there  are  several  manifest  advantages.  Pupils  show  consid- 
erable interest  in  all  three  subjects  (especially  in  the  third)  ; 
all  three  afford  excellent  mental  discipline,  improve  the 
student's  power  of  expression,  increase  his  knowledge  of  litera- 
ture, and  indeed  widen  his  whole  mental  horizon  by  bringing 
him  into  close  relation,  at  first  hand,  with  great  monuments  in 
the  history  of  his  race. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  urged  that  a  little  knowledge  is 
worse  than  none,  and  that  we  have  as  yet  not  enough  time  in 

our  schools  for  even   the  indispensable  parts  of 
Adverse Ar-  .       ^      ,.  ,         _,     ,        .     , 

guments  and  mstruction  m  English.  Both  of  these  counter- 
Summary.  i         i      i       i       t      ■  •  i 

arguments    may  be   doubted.     It   is  curious  that 

experts  of  all  kinds,  in  their  hatred  of  charlatanry,  are  inclined 
to  oppose  the  introduction  into  the  high  school  curriculum  of 
subjects  which  could  be  treated  with  better  results  later  in  the 
course  of  a  life  devoted  to  learning.  But  certainly  all  such 
subjects  cannot  be  postponed  because  they  could  be  taught 
later  to  greater  advantage,  for  then  there  would  be  little  left  to 
teach ;  and  the  many  who  do  not  continue  their  education 
beyond  the  high  school  have  a  moral  right  to  whatever  knowl- 
edge will  be  of  most  service  to  them.  And  under  such 
circumstances  as  we  have  pointed  out,  a  knowledge  of  the 
older  forms  of  the  language  would  be  to  a  considerable  number 
a  delight  and  an  inspiration.  It  is  true  that  there  are  problems 
of  historical  syntax  and  phonology  of  which  they  would  still 
be  ignorant,  but  they  could  learn  to  read  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronic/e  and  the  Knighfs  Tale,  and  draw  from  each  an 
added  insight  into  the  wealth  of  English  literature  and  the 
power  and  grace  of  the  English  language.  As  to  the  second 
point,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  situation  is  much  better 
than  it  seems ;  the  battle  for  sufficient  time  for  English  is 
really  won ;  or  victory  is  at  least  in  sight.  Having  attained 
an  assignment  to  English  of  three  periods  a  week,  as  a  mini- 
mum, throughout  the  course,  teachers  must  now  make  sure 
that  the  time  granted  is  used  to  the  best  advantage.  My  im-  ; 
pression  is  that  as  the  preparation  in  the  elementary  school  \ 
improves,  as  good  methods  of  instruction  are  introduced,  and  ; 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     21/ 

skilled  teachers  of  English  alone  allowed  to  give  instruction, 
we  shall  find,  within  the  next  few  years,  that  what  we  have 
been  doing  with  difficulty  in  four  years  can  be  done  easily  in 
three.  In  some  schools  this  is  already  the  case,  and  in  such 
schools  I  advise,  for  the  reasons  mentioned  above,  an  elective 
course  in  Old  English,  covering  half  a  year ;  an  elective  course 
in  Middle  English,  completing  the  year ;  and,  accompanying 
them  both,  a  course  of  instruction  on  the  history  of  the 
language. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  with  regard  to  the  suggestions 
just  made  as  to  the  probable  value  of  systematic  courses  in  the 
history  of  the  language  and  in  its  older  literature,  Historical 
there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt  as  to  the  utility  as^^Sen- 
of  historical  grammar  when  pursued  in  a  supple-  *^^  study, 
mentary  way,  precisely  analogous  to  that  employed  in  the 
supplementary  study  of  modern  English  grammar.  This  sup- 
plementary study  of  historical  grammar  may  indeed  be  re- 
garded as  beginning  with  that  of  systematic  modern  English 
grammar,  for  there  the  teacher  will  often  pause  in  his  task  to 
make  clear  the  new  by  means  of  the  old,  explaining,  for 
instance,  the  odd  apostrophe  in  the  possessives  of  nouns  by 
the  old  inflectional  system.  The  supplementary  study  of  his- 
torical grammar,  however,  will  be  in  large  measure  connected 
only  with  the  course  in  English  literature,  where  will  be  found 
a  wide  and  fertile  field.  As  Mr.  Rolfe  remarked,  "  It  would 
seem  no  more  than  reasonable  that  the  only  grammar  the 
majority  of  people  will  ever  study  or  refer  to  should  cover  the 
English  of  Shakspere,  Milton,  and  King  James's  Bible," 
though  I  should  prefer  not  to  include  these  necessar)'  matters 
in  systematic  grammar,  but  to  connect  them  with  the  supple- 
mentary work  of  which  we  are  now  speaking.  No  high  school 
course  in  English  literature  would  be  thought  adequate  in 
which  Shakspere  and  Milton  did  not  play  a  considerable 
part,  and  teachers  are  coming  more  and  more  to  see  that  the 
work  in  Shakspere  cannot  be  properly  presented  to  pupils 
who  have  not,  for  a  few  days  at  least,  studied  systematically 
the  differences  between  the   language   of  Shakspere  and  the 


2i8    EaXglish  in  secondary  education 

vernacular  of  to-day.  Later  writers  are  less  rich  in  this 
respect,  but  the  poems  of  Scott  and  Coleridge  contain  many 
antique  forms,  and  even  in  the  prose  of  Addison  points  will 
arise  that  deserve  attention. 


III.    Language:  Rhetoric  and  Composition 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

S.  Thurber.  Elementary  English  Composition  in  High  Schools.  The 
[Syracuse]  Academy,  November,  1S89 ;  Composition  Topics,  ibid., 
October,  December,  1890;  The  Correction  of  School  Compositions, 
ibid.,  June,  1S91  ;  The  Limitations  of  the  Secondary  Teaching  of 
English  Composition,  Educatio.v,  December,  1893;  The  Conditions 
Needed  for  the  Successful  Teaching  of  English  Composition,  School 
Review,  January,  1894;  Five  Axioms  of  Composition  Teaching,  ibid., 
January,  1S97. 

F.  N.  Scott.  References  on  the  Teaching  of  Rhetoric  and  Composition. 
Contributions  to  Rhetorical  Theory,  IV.     Sheehan  &  Co.,  Ann  Arbor. 

Twenty  Years  of  School  and  College  English.  Harvard  University. 
1896. 

G.  Buck.  Recent  Tendencies  in  the  Teaching  of  English  Composition. 
Educational  Review,  November,  1901. 

It  is  easy  to  trace  the  history  of  this  department  of  second- 
ary English  instruction  and  to  define  its  present  status.  Up 
Present  ^°  about  1880  the  work  done  in  rhetoric  had  been 

Rjfetoic  and  °^  ^^  most  formal  and  artificial  sort,  and  was  not 
Composition,  often  accompanied  by  practical  exercises  or  com- 
positions. In  some  schools  essays  were  written  at  rare  inter- 
vals, but  they  were  simply  corrected  in  points  of  spelling  and 
punctuation,  and  the  writers  at  best  given  only  a  few  offhand 
hints  about  plainness  and  conciseness  of  style.  Two  move- 
ments, both  taking  their  rise  in  about  1880,  combined  to 
stimulate  high  school  work  in  rhetoric  and  composition  :  first, 
the  schools  began  to  awake  to  the  fact  that  they  were  neglect- 
ing an  important  subject,  and,  second,  the  colleges  began  to 
exert  great  pressure  upon  secondary  schools,  through  entrance 
examinations,  in  favour  of  the  same  subject.     At  the  outset, 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     219 

the  main  aim  of  both  parties  seemed  to  be  "  correctness,"  the 
discarded  ideal  of  grammar,  which  had  now  been  passed  on 
to  a  new  phase  of  language-teaching,  though  the  unenHghtened 
schools  conceived  of  it  as  rectitude  in  matters  of  spelling  and 
punctuation,  and  the  colleges  as   rectitude  in  the  choice  of 
words  and   framing  of  sentences.     The  schools  soon  caught  . 
the  new  idea  of  impeccable  neatness  of  expression,  and  were 
devoting  themselves  ardently  to  it,  when,  in  the  early  years  of 
the  new  decade,  two  ideas  of  considerable  power  were  brought 
to  bear  on  secondary  instruction  in  English  through  the  influ- 
ence and  writings  of  Prof.  Barrett  Wendell  and  Prof.  F.  N. 
Scott.     Each   worked    independently  of  the   other,    but    the 
systems  advocated  by  both  agreed  in  two  essential  particulars  : 
(i)  that  practice  in  writing    counted    for  much    more   than 
theory;  and  (2)  that  the  kind  of  "correctness  "  that  was  of 
the  highest  importance  concerned  not  the  word  or  the  phrase,_^ 
but  the  sentence,  the  paragraph,  and  the  larger  whole,  —  that, 
in  brief,  structure  of  thought  was  the  main  object  to  be  kept 
in  mind.     These  ideas  were  assimilated,  throughout  the  coun- 
try, with  great  rapidity,  and  resulted  in  changing  to  a  marked 
degree    the  amount  and  character  of   high   school  work    in 
English.     The  amount  of  writing  was  largely  increased,  the 
character  of  instruction  became  far  less  formal  and  was  de- 
voted rather  to  structure  than  to  correctness  of  detail,  though 
the  latter  was  by  no  means  neglected.     Within  the  last  few 
years,   however,   the   strong   tendency  to    make    high    school 
pupils  write  daily  compositions  and  other  similar  exercises  in 
great  abundance  has  been  checked  by  the  feeling  that  it  is  not 
wise  thus  to  force  the  immature  mind  into  a  habit  that  may 
prove  to  be  only  a  fatal  facility,  and  by  the  growing  conviction 
that  composition  has  in  many  schools  been  allowed  unduly  to 
overshadow  literature.     We  seem,  therefore,  to  be  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  period  in  which  composition  work  in  the  high 
schools  will  be  carried  on  in  a  better  balanced  fashion  without 
going  to  any  of  the  older  extremes. 

In  the  discussions  that  follow  we  use  the  term  "  rhetoric  " 
with  reference  to  formal  or  systematic  instruction  in  the  theory 


220     ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

of  expression,  parallel  to  instruction  in  formal  or  systematic 
grammar,  and  the  term  "  composition  "  with  reference  to  in- 
DistLnction  struction  and  practice  in  the  art  of  expression,  /.  <?., 
^etorS  and  essay-writing  and  similar  exercises.  The  old  fashion 
Composition,  ^y^g  j-q  teach  rhetoric  but  not  composition.  Con- 
versely, there  are  now  some  who  believe  that  composition  can 
be  best  taught  without  rhetoric. 

I  have  before  called  attention  to  the  fact,  once  often  disre- 
garded but  now  becoming  generally  recognized,  that  the  study 
of  rhetoric  presupposes  a  knowledge  of  grammar, 
presupposes  Unless  pupils  are  able  intelligently  to  analyze  any 
ordinary  English  sentence  and  to  appreciate  the 
relation  existing  between  its  component  parts,  they  should 
not  be  permitted  to  take  up  rhetoric,  for  the  essence  of  the 
latter  study  is  that  it  considers  the  combination  of  sentences 
into  larger  groups  according  to  given  principles ;  and  how 
can  one  learn  to  deal  thus  with  the  higher  powers,  so  to  speak, 
of  a  form  with  the  elements  of  which  he  is  not  thoroughly 
acquainted  ? 

In  connection  with  our  discussion  of  grammar  we  found 
that  teachers  were  generally  agreed  that  young  people  stand 

in  need  of  a  considerable  amount  of  information 
Shall  Formal  ... 

Rhetoric  be  as  to  the  facts  and  laws  of  their  native  language, 
Taught?  *     ° 

but  sometimes  failed  to  agree  as  to  whether  this 

information  was  to  be  given  them  formally  or  systemat- 
ically, as  a  theory,  or  incidentally,  in  connection  with  other 
branches  of  English  study.  The  same  difference  of  opinion 
exists  with  regard  to  the  teaching  of  rhetoric.  Almost  all 
teachers  agree  that  there  are  certain  facts,  laws,  principles, 
—  call  the  information  what  you  will,  —  that  should  be  com- 
municated to  their  pupils.  The  question  is,  as  in  the  case 
of  grammar.  Shall  this  be  done  formally  or  incidentally? 
Here  we  find  three  typical  opinions  :  first,  that  rhetoric  can 
be  taught  alone,  as  an  abstract  theory,  in  the  way  that  physics 
and  chemistry  used  to  be  taught ;  second,  that  rhetoric, 
consisting  of  a  modicum  of  theory,  can  be  best  taught  when 
accompanied  by  a  considerable  amount  of  composition  work, 


ENGLISH  AV  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     221 

just  as  physics  is  now  taught  by  allowing  at  least  an  equal 
amount  of  laboratory  work  to  supplement  the  theoretical 
work ;  third,  that  the  pupil  need  make  no  formal  study  of  the 
theory,  inasmuch  as  he  will  master  what  is  necessary  through 
his  composition  writing. 

The  first  opinion  has  now  been  generally  rejected  and  need 
not  be  discussed.  The  third  is  held  by  many  teachers  of 
skill  and  experience,  especially  by  those  who  teach  opinions 
composition  in  close  connection  with  literature.  Discussed. 
It  is  best  stated  by  Dr.  Samuel  Thurber,  who  declares  that  he 
"  would  abolish  formal  rhetoric  entirely  from  the  course ;  or 
at  most  give  it  a  lesson  or  two  at  the  very  end  as  a  sort  of 
-  rJj//;;// of  the  foregoing  discipline.  Applied  rhetoric,  remem- 
ber, will  have  been  pursued  during  all  the  learner's  school 
years.  What  the  secondary  school  wants  is  the  effects  of 
rhetoric,  not  the  science  of  it."  ^ 

Such  teachers  as  Dr.  Thurber  would,  then,  prefer  to  give 
considerable  practice  in  simple  essay  writing,  and  to  bring 
out  incidentally,  as  it  were,  the  few  principles  of  xhe  Apparent 
good  writing  with  which  it  is  necessary  for  the  ^/^^^^"^ 
student  to  be  familiar,  or  to  develop  them  indue-  l^^^^^^^*^*^ 
tively  from  the  English  classics  which  are  being 
read  in  the  class  in  Uterature."  On  the  other  hand,  pupils  of 
that  age  work  more  effectively  with  a  text-book  than  without 
one,  and  it  is  wholly  natural  and  proper  that  this  should  be 
the  case.  It  seems,  too,  reasonable,  that  in  this,  as  in  other 
subjects,  the  principles  laid  down  should  be  arranged  and 
related  to  each  other  in  an  orderly  and  logical  manner,  so 
that  the  pupil's  mind  may  be  trained  by  comprehending  the 
subject  as  a  system  rather  than  as  a  bundle  of  facts.  Indeed, 
the  danger  of  teaching  rhetoric  is  merely  that  it  be  taught 
badly,  that  is,  in  too  great  detail  j  but  against  this  danger  the 


1  "English  in  Secondary  Schools,"  School  Review,  October,  1894. 

2  Part  of  this  paragraph,  and  of  several  paragraphs  later  in  the 
chapter,  are  taken,  with  the  permission  of  the  Macmillan  Co.,  from  the 
author's  Azotes  for  Teachers  of  English  Composition  (1901). 


222      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

well-educated  and  experienced  teacher  has  long  shice  learned 
to  be  on  his  guard.  Though  convinced  of  the  futility  of  the 
old  system  of  studying  rhetoric,  by  which  the  pupil  learned  by 
heart  a  vast  number  of  rules  and  principles  that  scarcely 
stood  the  test  of  jDractice  or  investigation  in  later  life,  he  will 
also,  probably,  be  convinced  of  the  possibility,  as  well  as  the 
practical  utility,  of  putting  before  pupils  at  this  stage  of  their 
progress  a  simple  exposition  of  the  elementary  principles  of 
the  art  of  expression,  provided  that  it  is  accompanied,  in 
accordance  with  modern  methods,  by  a  thoroughly  good  set 
of  graded  exercises,  so  that  the  pupil  may  practise  what  is 
preached  to  him,  and  grow  in  skill  and  in  real  power  over  his 
own  thoughts  as  well  as  in  mere  knowledge.  In  short,  a 
brief  course  in  systematic  rhetoric,  as  well  as  in  systematic 
grammar,  will,  under  ordinary  circumstances  and  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  be  found  of  practical  sendee  in  the  teaching  of 
English. 

If,  then,  we  assume  that  it  will  ordinarily  be  convenient  to 
give  high  school  pupils  some  little  instruction  in  systematic 

rhetoric  as  well  as  in  systematic  grammar,  it 
WhenshaU  ,    •'     .  ,  ■   ,  , 

Rhetoric  be      remanis    to    pomt    out   the    time    at    which    such 

instruction  can  most  profitably  be  given.  On  this 
point  most  teachers  would  probably  agree  in  thinking  the 
second  year  the  most  fitting.  The  pupil  has  then  completed 
his  course  in  systematic  grammar,  he  has  had  work  in  English 
literature  and  some  practice  in  composition ;  he  is  now  at 
home  in  his  new  environment,  his  powers  of  observation  and 
reasoning  have  begun  to  grow  rapidly,  and  he  is  already  more 
of  a  young  man  than  a  boy.  It  is  high  time  that,  for  half  a 
year  or  so,  he  should  have  a  little  plain  and  kindly  systematic 
instruction  in  the  theory  of  written  expression.  If  this  be 
given  him,  he  will  be  able  to  continue  his  practice  in  com- 
position throughout  the  course  without  other  instruction, 
unless,  as  may  seem  wise,  pupils  who  are  not  going  to  college 
should  be  allowed  to  take,  during  their  final  year,  a  somewhat 
elaborate  course  in  composition,  in  which  case  some  slight 
further  instruction  in  theory  might  then  be  added. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     223 

The  subject-matter  of  school  rhetoric  has  been  so  thoroughly 
and  sensibly  discussed  by  American  teachers  dur-   what  shall 
ing  the  last  ten  years  that  it  is  not  difficult  briefly  l>e Taught? 
to  indicate  what  seem  to  be  the  general  conclusions.     They 
are  :  — 

(i)  That  the  older  method,  descended  from  Blair  and 
Campbell,  of  teaching  dogmatically  somewhat  pedantic 
theories  as  to  purity,  propriety,  and  precision  (not  to  mention 
perspicuity)  and  of  elaborately  analyzing  and  classifying 
multitudinous  figures  of  speech,  is  valueless  and  is  being 
rapidly  discarded. 

(2)  That  the  succeeding  method,  which  laid  great  stress 
on  formal  correctness,  is  also  of  doubtful  or  limited  value. 
Systematic  rhetoric  may  help  the  pupil  to  acquire  the  habit 
of  correct  expression,  just  as  systematic  grammar  may  also  be 
of  service  to  him  in  the  same  direction,  but  it  cannot  be  his 
only  help  or  his  main  help.  He  will  be  aided  chiefly  by  the 
conversation  he  hears,  by  the  example  of  his  teacher  and 
fellows,  and  by  the  knowledge  of  standard  English  which  he 
gains  from  his  study  of  English  literature. 

(3)  That,  therefore,  the  best  method  is  one  which,  while 
not  neglecting  the  study  of  correctness,  lays  most  stress  on  the 
study  of  construction  in  the  larger  sense  of  the  word,  —  the 
building  up  of  a  complete  idea  through  a  series  of  sentences 
or  paragraphs.^ 

What  has  already  been  said   about  divided  usage  in  sys- 
tematic grammar  will  apply  equally  well  to  rhetoric,  though 
in  rhetoric  the  problems  involved  are  more  numer-  Divided  Usaee 
ous  and   more  perplexing.     In  some  hundreds  of  ""  Rhetoric, 
cases,  many   of   them    of  frequent    occurrence    in    oral    and 


1  We  should  not  leave  the  subject  without  calling  attention  to  two 
other  points  :  (i)  that  a  system  or  method  does  not  make  the  use  of  a 
text-book  indispensable,  provided  that  the  teacher  has  his  own  method 
clearly  and  definitely  in  mind ;  and  (2)  that  in  the  teaching  of  rhetoric 
American  teachers  are  greatly  in  advance  of  other  countries.  Through- 
out Europe  the  subject  is  almost  invariably  taken  up  according  to  the 
methods  prevalent  at  the  end  of  the  last  century. 


224     ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

written  expression,  the  usage  of  intelligent,  educated,  English- 
speaking  people  differs,  —  somewhat  more  than  one-half,  let 
us  say,  uttering  or  writing  one  word  or  phrase  and  somewhat 
less  than  one  half  another.  In  olden  days,  when  correctness 
was  the  aim  of  all  linguistic  instruction,  it  was  the  invariable 
practice  of  teachers,  often  on  very  slight  authority,  to  pro- 
nounce one  of  these  twin  expressions  "  correct "  and  the 
other  "  incorrect."  With  our  changed  notions  regarding 
language  and  propriety,  we  now  feel  this  practice  to  be  un- 
scientific, and  agree  to  call  one  expression  "  preferable  "  to 
the  other  on  grounds  of  taste  and  analogy,  or  perhaps  to 
recognize  both  as  equally  current.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  no  doubt  a  general  feeling  among  teachers  that  this  theory 
is  objectionable,  first,  because  some  one  thing  must  be 
"right;"  second,  because  it  makes  the  task  of  the  teacher 
so  much  harder,  inasmuch  as  he  himself  is  constantly  at  a 
loss  to  decide  between  variants ;  and,  third,  because  the 
pupil  may  come  to  believe  that  he  can  say  or  write  almost 
anything  without  fear  of  error.  These  pleas  are,  however, 
easily  met.  First,  no  one  thing  jmist  be  "  right  "  in  matters 
of  custom  ;  second,  the  teacher  must  be  prepared  to  face 
the  facts,  whether  the  task  be  hard  or  easy  ;  and,  third,  the 
pupil  can  feel  assured  that  he  cannot  be  justly  reproached 
for  employing  expressions  that  are  used  by  the  most  in- 
telligent people  with  whom  he  comes  into  contact. 

The   whole    subject    is    one    deserving   careful    discussion. 
Three   points,  however,  may  be  stated,  which    represent  the 

deliberate  opinion  of  the   present  writer :  — 
The  same  ,    ^     -,  ■  ,  , 

Subject  (i)    It  seems  wise  to  accept  without  reserve  the 

modern  doctrine  of  divided  usage,  and  to  explain 
carefully  to  pupils  that  the  real  arbiter  of  correctness  is  the 
practice  of  intelligent  and  educated  people,  and  that  when,  as 
often  happens,  usage  differs,  each  speaker  or  writer  can,  with- 
out fear  of  being  "  incorrect  "  or  "  wrong,"  use  either  of  the 
parallel  forms. 

(2)    But  it  is  important  that  pupils  should  understand  that 
taste  is  an  essential  element  in  this  choice,  and  that  therefore 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     22$ 

they  should  endeavour  by  training  their  own  taste  in  language 
to  render  their  choice,  in  cases  of  divided  usage,  one  made 
not  at  random  but  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  cultivated 
instinct  and  good  judgment. 

(3)  We  all  acknowledge  that  every  publishing  or  printing 
house,  and  every  school,  class,  or  other  group  of  individuals, 
has  a  right  to  decide,  for  purposes  of  convenience,  on  the  use 
of  one  rather  than  another  expression  in  cases  of  divided  usage. 
Each  school  or  teacher  is  advised  to  follow  this  practice.  It 
will  save  endless  discussion  and,  perhaps,  bad  feeling,  and  with 
it  will  disappear  the  plea  that  pupils  suffer  from  bewilderment 
in  not  knowing  "  which  is  right." 

(4)  Care  should  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  a  text-book,  if 
one  is  used,  that  it  be  not  unscientifically  dogmatic  on  points 
of  usage.  It  is  unwise  to  allow  a  young  student  to  acquire 
ideas  regarding  language  which  his  later  experience  must  in- 
evitably show  him  to  be  unwise. 

From  about  1885  to  about  1895,  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  relating  to  secondary  work  in  English  was  that  of  the 
part  played  in  systematic  rhetoric  by  the  correction  <<Bad" 
of  "bad"  English,  /'.  <?.,  ungrammatical  or  unidio-  fystema^** 
matic  expressions.  At  that  time  the  text-books  ketone, 
most  in  use  concerned  themselves  largely  with  exercises  of 
this  kind,  many  colleges  made  a  point  of  including  such  tests 
in  their  entrance  examinations,  and  the  current  theory  was 
that  the  careless  habits  of  American  boys  in  matters  of  ex- 
pression could  best  be  reached  in  this  way.  During  the 
last  few  years,  however,  the  problem  has  in  the  main  disap- 
peared and  may  practically  be  regarded  as  settled.  There 
was  right  on  both  sides.  The  young  must  learn  to  express 
themselves  decently  and  intelligently,  and  setting  them  to  cor- 
rect their  own  errors  or  those  of  others  is  often  a  considerable 
help.  But  to  concentrate  all  or  a  greater  part  of  secondary 
instruction  on  this  negative  process  defeats,  to  some  degree, 
the  purpose  involved.  Text- books  and  systems  of  instruction 
now  wisely  give  most  attention  to  questions  of  structure,  to  the 
general  method  of  composition,  taking  it  mainly  for  granted 

15 


226      ENGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

that  the  teacher  will  by  various  means  and  on  all  occasions 
insist  on  the  use  of  correct  English,  —  without  pedantry,  — 
and  that  the  pupil  will  be  led  on  all  sides,  and  especially 
through  his  reading  and  study  of  literature  and  through  his 
practice  in  oral  or  written  composition,  to  acquire  skill  in  the 
proper  use  of  his  native  language.  The  old  method,  however, 
is  still  valuable  on  occasion  and  to  a  limited  extent,  and,  in 
the  case  of  pupils  unfamiliar  with  good  English  idiom  or 
resolutely  neglectful  of  it,  may  often  for  a  time  be  regularly 
employed  with  good   results. 

The  following  hints  as  to  method  may  also  be  of  service  :  — 
(i)    It  is  well  to  cover  the  ground  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
Rhetoric  is  useful  only  as  an  advisable  preparation  for  com- 
HiBts  as  position,  just  as  certain  parts  of  algebraic  theory 

to  Method.  ^re  of  use  only  as  necessary  preliminaries  to  the 
solution  of  equations.  Once  it  is  clear  that  a  class  understands 
a  given  principle  there  is  no  need  of  lingering  further  over  it. 

(2)  But  it  is  important  also  to  cover  the  ground  thoroughly. 
The  class  must  really  understand  the  given  principle  before  it 
is  allowed  to  pass  on.  A  few  principles  thoroughly  understood 
will  be  of  far  greater  service  than  a  large  number  which  are 
only  imperfectly  comprehended. 

(3)  If  we  regard  systematic  rhetoric  as  a  sort  of  extension 
of  systematic  grammar,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  it  may  be  of 
considerable  value  as  a  means  of  mental  discipline.  The  sys- 
tems used  may  vary,  but  whichever  one  is  chosen  may  be  with 
advantage  taught  as  a  system,  a  theory  in  which  all  the  parts 
are  related  one  to  the  other  in  a  given  way.  Emphasis  on 
rhetoric  as  a  system,  instead  of  a  mere  fortuitous  assemblage 
of  rules,  will  assist  the  student,  provided  the  system  is  suffi- 
ciently sound  and  simple,  and  make  the  drill  more  rapid,  more 
interesting,  and  more  useful. 

The  formal  study  of  rhetoric  must,  however,  like  the  formal 
study  of  grammar,  be  regarded  as  merely  the  beginning  of  the 
Snpplemen-  task.  If  the  pupil  ceases  constantly  to  use  it  in 
tary  Study,  connection  with  his  other  work  in  English,  he  is 
little  the  better  off.     In  the  case  of  rhetoric  also,  as  in  that  of 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     22/ 

grammar,  the  main  fault  of  American  instruction  is  tliat  it  too 
often  fails  to  make  use  of  opportunities  for  supplementary 
training.  These  are  offered  in  abundance  by  the  work  in  com- 
position, where  the  pupil  can  apply  constantly  the  system  in 
which  he  has  been  trained,  and  by  the  work  in  literature, 
where  his  attention  should,  during  the  second  and  third  years, 
be  frequently  called  to  points  relating  to  the  choice  of  words 
and  to  the  grouping  of  words,  sentences,  and  paragraphs.  In 
rhetoric,  too,  as  in  the  theory  of  any  of  the  arts,  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  essential  principles  cannot  be  mastered 
at  once.  Even  when  clearly  apprehended  at  first,  they  take 
new  forms  and  gather  new  meanings  as  the  learner's  experience 
broadens  and  as  his  taste  and  judgment  mature.  Systematic 
rhetoric  —  to  use  the  pedantic  term  —  is  thus  merely  the  begin- 
ning of  a  study  of  the  principles  of  expression  which  will  con- 
tinue through  life,  under  one  form  or  another,  and  can  never 
be  regarded  as  completed. 

The  course  which  we  have  outlined  for  the  first  term  of  the 
second  year  deals  only  with  the  structure  of  expression,  — 

with  the  choice  of  words  and  their  grouping  in 

1   ,  .  _,,        ,  ,  .        A  Second 

sentences  and  larger  units.     The  theory  here  in-   coursein 

volved  will  be  quite  sufficient  for  the  pupil's  needs 
in  connection  with  his  work  in  composition  and  literature  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  second  year  and  the  whole  of  the 
third  year.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  a  different 
situation  arises.  It  is  the  last  year  of  education  for  many 
pupils,  and  it  is  only  just  that  they  should  use  it  to  the  best 
advantage.  They  have  now  more  maturity  and  more  ambition, 
and  their  composition  work  becomes  more  spontaneous.  They 
need  training  in  description,  narration,  exposition,  and  argument. 
Here  the  same  reasoning  as  that  which  we  have  outlined  in  the 
case  of  systematic  grammar  and  of  elementary  rhetoric  points  to 
the  setting  aside  of  a  few  weeks  or  months  for  a  theoretical  treat- 
ment of  the  subjects  mentioned.  The  teacher  may,  indeed, 
prefer  merely  to  give  a  few  incidental  hints  for  the  student's 
guidance  in  connection  with  his  essays,  or  to  develop  a  theory 
inductively  in  connection  with   the  work  in  literature.     But 


228      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

either  method  is  only  in  rare  instances  satisfactory :  the  dan- 
ger of  the  first  is  that  the  pupil  will  get  merely  scattered  hints, 
and  hence  be  unable  in  after  years  to  judge  his  own  writing  or 
that  of  others  ;  the  danger  of  the  second  is  that  he  will  get  not 
only  scattered  ideas  but  misleading  ideas,  owing  to  the  lack  of 
a  broad  basis  for  induction  furnished  by  the  few  works  of  litera- 
ture read. 

Several  hints  may  be  of  service  in  connection  with  an  ad- 
vanced or  fourth  year  course  in  systematic  rhetoric  :  — 

„  ^  ^,  (i)    It  is  wise  to  avoid  subtle  distinctions  as  to 

Method  in  \  ' 

Advanced        methods  of  narration  and   description.     Very  few 

such  methods  and  principles  will  stand  careful  and 

sane  analysis.    All  the  theory  that  any  one  needs  to  know  about 

either  narration  or  description  is  exceedingly  small  in  amount, 

and  can  be  easily  presented  to  an  intelligent  class  in  a  few 

hours.     Exposition  is  obviously  the  kind  of  writing  which  the 

student  will  use  most  and  in  which  he  needs  the  most  careful 

drill. 

(2)  The  detailed  study  of  argument  is  too  difficult  for  pupils 
at  this  period.  The  process  of  proof,  to  be  sure,  they  have 
been  familiar  with,  in  various  forms,  for  several  years,  partic- 
ularly through  algebra,  geometry,  and  the  natural  sciences  ;  but 
the  proof  of  any  proposition  of  any  weight  in  connection  .with 
history,  economics,  or  literature  involves  a  broad  knowledge  of 
facts  and  principles  which  it  is  impossible  for  the  high  school 
pupil  to  possess.  The  main  advantage  of  the  study  of  argu- 
mentation in  the  high  school  is  thus,  as  an  able  secondary 
teacher  remarks,  that  the  pupil  becomes  conscious  of  the  ex- 
treme difficulty  of  complete  and  scientific  proof,  and  of  his  own 
inability  to  prove  propositions  of  any  complexity.  Pursued  in 
this  spirit,  the  study  is  a  valuable  part  of  the  student's  training. 

(3)  As  in  the  case  of  the  elementary  course  in  rhetoric  and 
the  systematic  course  in  grammar,  much  depends  upon  the 
previous  work  of  the  pupil  and  upon  his  supplementary  work. 
His  mind  must  have  been  prepared  by  much  incidental  instruc- 
tion, during  the  work  of  the  second  and  third  years  in  compo- 
sition and  in  literature  ;  and  the  training  given  in  the  advanced 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     229 

course  in  systematic  rhetoric  must  be  supplemented,  while  it 
is  being  given  and  after  it  has  ceased,  by  work  both  in  litera- 
ture and  in  composition. 

In    connection  with  the    discussion    of   formal    rhetoric    a 
moment's  attention  should  be  given  to   the   old   practice   of 

requiring  the  systematic  memorizing  of  definitions 

,.    .       .  ,  ,  Synonyms. 

establishmg  distuictions  between  words    meanmg 

much  the  same  thing,  together  with  exercises  in  framing  sen- 
tences involving  the  proper  use  of  such  words.  It  is  much  to 
be  doubted  whether  this  training  was  of  any  value  whatsoever. 
Definitions  of  words  apart  from  any  context  are  not  only  very 
dull  but  very  unsatisfactory.  It  is  important  that  young  people 
should  learn  these  distinctions.  It  is  not  necessary,  however, 
to  give  such  instruction  in  a  fashion  that  runs  counter  to  the 
known  laws  of  mental  activity.  The  proper  place  for  learning 
the  exact  meaning  of  words  is  in  connection  with  the  regular 
work  in  literature  and  in  composition.  In  the  former  the 
teacher  will  do  his  best  to  make  sure  that  the  pupil  under- 
stands the  force  of  each  word  and  its  shade  of  meaning, 
and  in  the  second  he  may  encourage  him  constantly  to  broaden 
his  vocabulary  by  the  appropriate  use  of  such  new  words. 

No  other  subject  of  school  instruction,  certainly  no  other 
subject  in  the  field  of  English,  is  so  important  as  composition. 
Other  subjects  are  means  to  an  end.     We  pursue 
them  in  order  that  the  mind  may  be  stimulated  to   an  Essential 
healthful  activity,  or  may  accumulate  the  material     "  ^^^  ' 
on  which    it  will  work  when  trained  and  roused  to   activity. 
Composition,  however,  is   itself  an  activity  or  the  sign  of  an 
activity.    Through  it  we  may  determine  the  amount  of  dynamic 
power  possessed  by  the  student,  the  extent  to  which  it  has 
been  developed,  the  character  and  substance  of  the  informa- 
tion which  he  has  acquired,  and  the  degree  to  which  he  is  lord 
over  it.     It  is  of  great  importance,  therefore,  that  the  teacher 
should  discuss  with  care  the  various  problems  relating  to  the 
work  in  composition,  in  order  that  it  may  in  every  way  possible 
be  made  effective. 


230      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

As  we  have  seen,  composition  was  until  recently  not  an  im- 
portant  element  in    secondary   instruction.     Within    the    last 

twenty  years,  however,  it  has  made  great   strides 
SbaU  there  be    .  i  »        ,  ,  , 

a  Teacher  of  forward.  At  the  present  time  the  teacher  of 
Composition?    t:.      ,■  ,     •      •  u  i         i  .1 

English  IS,  in  many  cases,  chosen  largely  on  the 

basis  of  his  skill  in  teaching  composition,  and  "  English  "  in 
the  curriculum  often  means  scarcely  more  than  English  com- 
position. The  teacher  of  composition  has  thus  become  an 
exceedingly  strong  influence  in  secondary  instruction.  Broad- 
minded,  well-balanced,  sympathetic,  eager  to  learn  and  to 
teach,  quick  to  read  character  and  skilful  in  training  his  pupils 
in  power  of  observation  and  reasoning,  he  — or  more  often 
she  —  has  won  the  respect  and  affection  of  the  whole  school 
community.  But  the  question  may  very  properly  be  put,  — 
and  has  been  very  strongly  put  by  Dt.  Samuel  Thurber,  —  Is 
it  the  business  of  any  one  teacher  to  give  instruction  in  com- 
position?    Is  it  not  rather  the  duty  and  privilege  of  all? 

"  What  I  must  say  here  is  that  the  special  teacher  of  com- 
position should  be  abolished.  He  does  no  good,  and  he 
stands  in  the  way.  The  reading  of  a  certain  limited  amount 
of  juvenile  writing  for  purposes  of  correction  is  a  pleasing  task, 
leading  to  personal  relations,  to  an  appreciation  of  individual 
difficulties,  to  a  possible  giving  of  wise  counsel.  But  the  read- 
ing of  juvenile  writing  in  great  quantities  is  inconsistent  with 
mental  and  physical  health.  All  the  teachers  of  a  school  should 
share  equally  this  task  of  supervising  the  English  writing.  I 
do  not  see  how  any  teacher,  man  or  woman,  can  have  the  ef- 
frontery to  claim  to  know  good  English  better  than  the  rest ; 
and  I  do  not  see  how  any  teacher  can  submit  to  have  the 
drudgery  of  having  several  times  his  share  of  this  work  thrust 
upon  him."  ^ 

Dr.  Thurber's  plan,  consistent  as  it  is  in  many  respects  with 
the  best  educational  theory,  is  a  counsel  of  perfection.  In 
the  ideally  constituted,  frictionless  school  machine  it  would 
be  possible  and  advisable.     Nay,  more,  it  is  a  device  that  can 


^  Samuel  Thurber,  "  Five  Axioms  of  Composition  Teaching,"  School 
Review,  January,  1S97. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     23 1 

in  certain  rare  institutions  be  already  put  into  practice ;  if 
adopted  in  small  colleges,  under  skilful  administration,  it  might 
there  work  wonders.  But  it  can  scarcely  be  seri-  yes;  at 
ously  considered  to-day  by  the  rank  and  file  of  ^"^^°^' 
secondary  schools  throughout  the  country,  for  three  reasons. 
First,  what  is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's  business.  The 
proper  results  would  —  through  indifference,  indolence,  or 
sheer  lack  of  time  and  strength  on  the  part  of  teachers  and 
pupils  —  simply  not  be  secured  at  all.  Second,  there  is,  sad 
to  say,  good  reason  for  believing  that  in  far  too  many  cases 
some  teachers  do  use  better  English  than  others,  and  that  a 
great  number  do  not  use  good  English  at  all.  Third,  even  if  all 
teachers  were  equal  in  this  capacity,  all  would  scarcely  be  equal 
in  the  peculiar  characteristics  that  distinguish  the  good  teacher 
of  composition.  Indeed,  this  special  work  can  often  not  be 
entrusted  even  to  the  teacher  of  English  literature,  who  knows 
and  teaches  his  branch  of  the  subject  thoroughly,  but  who  fre- 
quently cannot  somehow  succeed  in  getting  boys  and  girls  to 
write  well. 

Therefore,  reluctantly  agreeing   that  work  in  composition 
must  be  under  the  charge  of  a  special  teacher,  we  pass  to  the 
consideration  of  a  necessary  corollary.  What  help   Aid  from 
in  the  field  of  composition  can   the    teacher    of  °'*^^'^^- 
English  get  from  his  colleagues?     Here  we  are  on  more  solid 
ground.     Three  points  at  once  suggest  themselves  : 

(i)  The  teachers  in  a  secondary  school  should  by  solemn 
compact  bind  themselves  to  foster  in  every  way  the  use  of 
good  English  in  all  classrooms.  Under  this  agreement  they 
would  discourage  slovenly  or  incorrect  pronunciation  and  slip- 
shod expression,  and  would  absolutely  decline  to  receive 
papers  in  which  errors  in  spelling,  punctuation,  and  grammar 
are  conspicuous,  or  to  approve  oral  recitations  in  which  the 
English  is   plainly  bad.^     Further,  they  would,  in  the  inter- 


1  This  is  again  a  counsel  of  perfection.  But  much  can  be  done  in  this 
way  if  teachers  are  only  willing  to  do  as  much  as  they  can.  The  dangers 
are:  (i)  that  teachers  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  meet  together  and  dis- 


232      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

ests  of  their  own  subjects,  help   their  pupils  to  acquire    the 
priceless  habit  of  accurate  statement. 

(2)  Much  can  be  done  for  composition  by  means  of  the 
prolonged  oral  recitation,  —  the  topical  recitation.  Pupils  are 
too  much  inclined  to  get  along,  if  they  can,  by  saying  yes  or 
no,  or  uttering  little  scraps  of  information,  sure  of  being 
prodded  or  cajoled  into  giving  the  rest  of  the  answer.  A 
pupil  who  can  speak  for  two  or  three  moments,  quietly  and 
clearly,  on  a  given  topic,  has  a  real  command  over  his  knowl- 
edge and  his  faculties. 

(3)  The  writing  of  exercises,  summaries,  and  essays  on 
subjects  lying  outside  the  field  of  Enghsh  may  also  be  turned 
to  good  account.  But  here  also  we  must  step  with  caution. 
There  is  real  danger  that  the  pupil  will  have  too  much  writing 
to  do,  which  is  almost  worse  than  none  at  all.  On  this  matter 
teachers  should  consult  each  other,  agreeing  on  a  stated  sched- 
ule, so  that  the  poor  beast  of  burden  may  not  be  so  outra- 
geously overweighted  as  to  make  no  real  progress.  Nor  is  it 
clear  that  the  teacher  of  composition  should  have  any  share  in 
the  correction  of  papers  written  for  other  departments.  That 
will  depend  upon  circumstances.  Other  things  being  equal, 
each  department  can  best  attend  to  its  own  exercises.  All 
that  is  important  is  that  the  department  of  English  should 
keep  on  good  terms  with  its  sister  departments,  and  that  all 
should  agree  on  the  amount  of  work  thus  required  and  on  the 
standards  to  be  used  in  judging  it. 

It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  young  people  can  safely  be 
talked  to  about  "  style."     Scientifically  speaking, 
every  writer  has  his  habits  of  expression,  which  dif- 
fer only  in  slight  particulars  from  those  of  his  fellows.     From 


cuss  the  matter  carefully,  to  see  just  what  they  had  best  do ;  (2)  that, 
because  the  pressure  of  time  keeps  them  from  doing  all  they  want  to  do, 
they  will  decline  to  do  anything;  and  (3)  that  some  teachers  who  have 
hard  and  fast  (and  perhaps  uiiscientific)  ideas  as  to  what  is  "correct" 
will  strain  over  the  minute  and  unimportant  errors  in  idiom  and  let  slip 
the  opportunity  to  scotch  the  really  vicious  practices  of  thought  and 
speech. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     233 

the  artistic  point  of  view  style  is  a  highly  specialized  set  of 
habits  in  composition,  such  as  are  acquired  only  by  an  indi- 
vidual either  of  considerable  maturity  or  endowed  with  unusual 
talent  in  matters  of  expression.  Young  people  rarely  have  any 
such  highly  specialized  habits  of  expression,  nor  is  it  desirable 
that  they  should  try  to  acquire  them.  The  duty  of  the  teacher 
is  to  see  that  they  write  plainly  and  clearly  and  naturally,  — 
that  is  all.  Nor  is  it  wise  to  talk  to  them  much  about  the 
"  style  "  of  great  authors.  They  should  be  helped  to  enjoy 
the  special  charm  of  various  pieces  of  literature,  but  for  this 
purpose  very  little  detailed  analysis  is  necessary.  Indeed, 
little  detailed  analysis  of  an  author's  style  is  possible  until 
psychology  has  made  further  advances. 

The  peculiar  linguistic  training  to  be  obtained  from  transla- 
tion has  been  often  vaunted,  and  no  doubt  there  is  jnuch  that 

is  sound  in  the  laudation.     But  there  are  several 
,...,,  r  y  ■        r  i       Traiislation. 

hmitations  that  detract  from  the  merits  of  transla- 
tion as  a  secondary  exercise  in  English,  First,  the  whole 
element  of  structure  is  absent.  The  pupil  must  follow  some 
one  else's  thought,  and,  generally  speaking,  cannot  depart 
from  the  order  of  statement  employed  in  the  original.  Second, 
the  pupil  must  not,  in  a  school  exercise  in  translation,  vary 
much  from  a  literal  version.  It  is  the  classical  master's  busi- 
ness to  see  that  the  foreign  original  —  in  its  construction-^  is 
felt  through  the  English  version,  whereas  to  translate  well,  into 
English  that  is  thoroughly  idiomatic,  is  frequently  to  weave 
together  the  elements  of  thought  so  differently  that  the  transla- 
tion is  a  re-creation  of  the  matter  in  a  form  often  strangely 
diverse.  This  practical  necessity  of  rendering  literally  is 
strikingly  apparent  in  so-called  translations  at  sight,  written  for 
examination  purposes,  where  no  sane  youth  would  dream  of 
writing  anything  but  a  sort  of  English  parallel  or  facsimile 
of  the  foreign  original.  Third,  the  task  is  one  in  which  judg- 
ment, maturity  of  mind,  and  reflection  play  a  large  part.  The 
boy  of  sixteen  has  rarely  the  intellectual  power  to  do  work 
requiring  such  careful  introspection,  such  minute  consideration 
of  the  associations  connected  with  words,  such  deliberate  dis- 


234      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

crimination.  With  these  disadvantages  in  mind,  the  teacher 
of  Enghsh,  while  encouraging  translation,  will  make  but  a 
guarded  use  of  it  in  secondary  as  distinguished  from  college 
instruction. 

As  to  the  work  that  falls  directly  within  the  field  of  com- 
position writing,  we  have  first  to  ask  ourselves  how  much,  how 

often,  may  the  secondary  student  be  expected  to 
How  much  '         ■'  .    .  \...  .,   ,        ,  ^ 

Composition  write.  Here  opmions  dirter  widely,  but  1  am 
Writing?  •         ,     , 

convuiced  that :  — 

(i)  He  should  certainly  write  no  more  than  the  teacher 
has  time  to  read.^  At  least  the  opposite  method  should  never 
be  adopted  except  for  reasons  of  solid  weight,  and  then  only 
in  the  case  of  mere  exercises. 

(2)  He  should  certainly  write  no  more  than  he  can  write 
well.  Even  for  a  mature  person  a  few  hundred  words  a  day 
is  a  good  average,  if  he  has  thinking  to  do  before  and  while 
he  writes,  and  other  things  to  attend  to.  Composition  is  not 
a  trick  of  the  hand,  but  the  most  delicate  act  of  mental  balance 
and  control.  To  the  boy  the  writing  of  two  hundred  words 
often  seems  like  a  labour  of  Hercules.  And  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  it  is  folly  to  force  a  growing  boy  to  be  fluent.  Let 
him  think  a  litde,  and  compose  a  little,  —just  enough  so  that 
there  is  no  inhibition,  so  that  the  habit  grows  with  his  increas- 
ing knowledge,  self-consciousness,  and  self-control.  Just  how 
much  this  should  be  each  teacher  must  find  out  for  himself 
with  due  regard  to  the  existing  circumstances.  The  pupil 
should  have  some  writing  to  do  every  day ;  he  should  do  it 
with  care  and  should  be  judged  by  it.  But  this  need  not  be  a 
"  daily  theme  "  —  a  burden  proper  only  for  broader  shoulders,^ 
—  but  a  simple  exercise,  based  usually  on  some  one  of  his 
school  duties  and  usually  designed  for  another  teacher.  For 
the  composition  specifically  required  by  his  English  teacher, 
once  a  week  will  usually  be  often .  enough. 


1  See  Samuel  Thurber,  "  Elementary  Composition  in  High  Schools," 
The  [Syracuse]  Academy,  November,  1889. 

2  See  Samuel  Thurber,  "  Five  Axiom^s'  of  Composition   Teaching," 
School  Review,  1897,  V.  14.       A 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      235 

The  question  of  the  relation  between  written  composition 
and  literature  is  a  perplexing  matter,  and  must  be  solved  by- 
each  instructor  according  to  his  own  experience  Topics  from 
and  in  connection  with  his  own  methods  and  gen-  literature, 
eral  policy.  Many  successful  teachers  hold  that  composition 
should  be  kept  in  such  close  relations  with  the  work  in  litera- 
ture as  to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  a  subdivision  of  it,  basing 
their  theory  on  the  ground  that  the  works  read  in  the  course 
in  literature  serve  naturally,  not  only  as  the  student's  inspira- 
tion, but  as  his  models.  Though  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that 
appreciative  reading  will  be  a  constant  source  of  inspiration  to 
the  student  and  a  natural  and  proper  stimulus,  it  may  be 
objected,  on  the  other  hand,  ttrat  masterpieces  of  literature  are 
scarcely  normal  models  for  high  school  students.^  Master- 
pieces are  the  work  of  men,  not  of  boys,  —  and  of  men  of 
genius  at  that.  The  youth  can  in  many  instances  understand 
and  appreciate  them,  he  can  be  stimulated  by  them,  but,  even 
when  the  masterpiece  belongs  to  the  period  in  which  he  is 
living,  he  is  rarely  if  ever  fitted,  physically  or  psychologically, 
to  treat  himself  a  subject  of  anything  like  the  same  sort  in  a 
style  even  remotely  similar.  A  boy  is  a  boy,  and  to  a  boy 
belong  a  boy's  subjects  and  a  boy's  style.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  present  writer,  therefore,  it  would  be  certainly  possible, 
though  scarcely  advisable,  to  teach  a  boy  to  write  thoroughly 
well  without  requiring  him  to  make  in  any  way  a  study  of 
English  literature,  —  perhaps,  in  an  extreme  case,  without 
reading  books  at  all.  Provided  that  he  is  supplied  with  a 
fairly  good  vocabulary,  whether  by  reading  or  by  conversation, 
or  by  both,  he  can  be  so  trained,  during  his  school  days,  by 
practice,  correction,  and  criticism,  as  to  be  able  to  express  his 
own  ideas  in  a  rational  and  sensible  manner,  precisely  as, 
under  good  instruction,  a  boy  could  learn  to  draw  really  well 


1  As  my  collaborators  remind  me,  I  must  not  fail  to  state  that  what  I 
say  applies  only  to  the  use  of  literature  as  a  model.  It  is  natural  that 
subjects  for  compositions  should  often  be  taken  from  English  literature,  — 
summaries,  criticisms,  and  the  like, —  though  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is 
wise  to  use  such  subjects  exclusively  or  more  than  to  a  moderate  degree. 


236      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

by  attempting,  under  such  guidance  and  correction,  one  tan- 
gible object  after  another,  without  ever  having  seen  or  studied 
the  work  of  a  great  artist.  Certainly,  by  availing  ourselves  of 
the  inspiration  that  must  inevitably  come  from  the  proper 
reading  and  study  of  literature,  we  can  give  high  school 
students  —  and,  for  that  matter,  college  students  —  the  very 
best  training  in  composition  without  letting  them  'stray  far 
away  from  the  subjects  most  suitable  to  their  age  and  experi- 
ence. It  is  not,  then,  in  my  opinion,  wise  to  attempt  to  corre- 
late too  closely  the  course  of  study  in  literature  and  that  in 
composition.  The  student  must  depend  on  literature  for  much 
of  his  general  stimulus  and  often  for  specific  hints.  The  sub- 
jects for  essays  may,  too,  frequently  be  taken  from  topics  in 
literature  just  as  from  topics  in  history.  But  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  main  object  in  view  is  to  train  the  pupil 
in  the  art  of  expressing  his  own  thoughts  and  not  those  of 
another,  and  that  this  means,  in  the  case  of  a  high  school 
pupil,  that  he  must  be  taught  how  to  think  consciously  and 
logically,  and  how  to  express  clearly  these  conscious  and 
logical  thoughts.  The  secret  of  good  teaching  in  this  respect 
lies  in  letting  the  pupil  always  feel  that  he  is  handling  thoughts 
that  are  genuinely  his,  or  that  are  essentially  of  his  sort,  not 
the  thoughts  of  an  older  person  or  of  another  epoch. ^ 

If  the  question  as  to  the  taking  of  subjects  mainly  from  the 
work  in  English  literature  be  regarded  as  settled,  the  teacher 

will  scarcely  find  much  further  difficulty  as  to  sub- 
Snbjects  jects.     The  text-books  all  make  many  suggestions, 

and  the  life  of  the  school  community  is  so  rich 
that  the  instructor,  once  committed  to  the  policy  of  letting 
boys  write  on  what  they  are  actually  thinking  about  or  are 
glad  to  be  thinking  about,  will  find  himself  swept  briskly  along 
by  a  powerful  and  vital  current.  Experience  has  shown  that, 
even  in  the  public  schools  of  large  cities,  the  pupils  from 
homes  where  refinement  does  not  enter  are  not  thereby  at  a 


1  See  the  admirable  essay  of  Samuel  Thurber,  "  Composition  Topics," 
The  [Syracuse]  Academy,  October,  1S90. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     237 

disadvantage  as  regards  the  material  of  their  essays,  for,  like 
their  more  cultivated  fellows,  and  even  more  than  they,  they 
can  draw  at  will  from  a  multitude  of  interesting  trades  and 
handicrafts,  and  from  the  stimulating  sights  and  incidents  that 
make  up  the  life  of  a  great  city. 

Two  special  forms  of  composition,  —  paraphrasing  and 
verse  writing,  —  as  to  the  value  of  which  there  has  been 
much  dispute,  may  be  conveniently  taken  up 
at  this  point.  The  case  against  paraphrasing  has  *^*^  asing. 
been  most  strongly  stated  by  Dr.  Laurie,  whose  attack  we 
quote  in  full :  — 

"  To  facilitate  the  full  comprehension  of  difficult  sentences 
and  paragraphs,  the  exercise  came  into  general  use  in  this 
country  [Scotland]  about  twenty-five  years  ago.  paraphrasing 
Paraphrasing  consists  in  the  turning  into  common-  Attacked, 
place  language,  which  '  any  fellow  may  understand,'  the  verse 
of  a  poet,  or  the  succinct  prose  of  such  writers  as  Bacon  and 
Browne,  or  the  luxuriant  paragraphs  of  Jeremy  Taylor.  A 
more  detestable  exercise  I  do  not  know.  It  is  a  vile  use  of 
pen  and  ink.  One  would,  of  course,  submit  to  it  as  an  un- 
happy necessity  were  there  no  other  w^ay  of  showing  that  we 
understand  an  author.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  case. 
To  paraphrase  Milton  or  Shakspere  is  to  turn  the  good  into  the 
inferior  or  the  bad,  and  to  degrade  literature.  Moreover,  it  is 
false.  For  the  youth  who  has  done  it  imagines  that  his  bald 
sentences  give  all  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  original  passage  of 
Milton  or  Bacon.  If  this  were  so,  then  there  would,  alas  !  be 
no  such  thing  as  literature,  no  such  thing  as  Art  in  language. 
When  all  is  done,  you  have  no  longer  got  Bacon  or  Milton, 
but  only  your  much  lesser  self.  This  exercise  is  based  on  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  whole  situation.  Teachers  were 
vaguely  groping  for  some  means  of  assuring  themselves  that 
their  pupils  really  saw  their  way  through  the  organism  of  a 
piece  of  poetry,  —  terse,  elliptical,  and  frequently  inverted  in 
the  ordo  verbonim.  But  this  object  can  quite  well  be  obtained 
by  a  process  which  might  be  called  '  Resolution,'  or,  to  please 
those  fond  of  big  words,  '  Dialysis.'  It  simply  consists  in  the 
writing  out  of  the  piece  of  poetry  in  grammatical  prose  order, 
supplying  words  understood,  but  ahvays  preservingiho.  language 
of  the  poet.      This  prevents  a   boy  from    contenting   himself 


238       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

with  that  vague  knowledge  which  is  not  knowledge  at  all,  but 
mere  impression  supported  by  dim,  disconnected  images,  or,  it 
may  be,  by  the  mere  musical  rhythm  of  language.  It  compels 
him  to  be  exact,  and  may,  perchance,  startle  him  for  the  first 
time  into  the  perception  that  poets,  after  all,  talk  plain  sense, 
and  may  thus  awaken  his  critical  faculties.  To  shut  the  book 
and  try  to  express  the  substance  of  the  thought  of  a  prose 
writer  in  your  own  words,  is  an  excellent  exercise,  but  this  is 
not  '  paraphrasing  '  as  commonly  practised."  ^ 

In  direct  opposition  to  Dr.  Laurie's  views  are  those  of  Mr. 
H.  C.  Bowen.  "  '  Paraphrasing,'  "  he  says,  "  is  the  unpacking 
Paraphrasing  and  exhibiting  clearly  and  at  large  of  the  whole 
Defended.  meaning  of  a  passage  which,  in  the  author  in  ques- 
tion, is  expressed  in  a  brief  and  condensed  or  figurative  form, 
or  perhaps,  at  times,  rather  suggested  than  expressed.  It  re- 
quires in  the  pupil  a  knowledge  of  the  real  force  of  the  allu- 
sions, and  of  the  bearing  of  the  passage  as  a  whole  on  its 
context,  and  the  occasion  on  which  it  is  used.  It  requires  an 
appreciation  of  the  exact  force  and  intention  of  the  metaphors, 
similes,  and  epithets,  and  a  consciousness  of  that  associated 
meaning  or  colour  which  certain  words  and  phrases  acquire, 
and  which  are  brought  out  most  distinctly  in  the  contrasts 
between  so-called  synonyms.  It  is  only  when  this  knowledge 
of,  this  insight  into,  what  the  author  desires  to  convey  to  us 
has  been  sought  for  and  gained,  that  we  are  in  a  position  to 
truly  appreciate,  and  really  delight  in,  the  art  and  beaut^^of 
his  mode  of  expression.  To  ascertain  whether  our  pupils 
have  gained  this  knowledge  and  insight  we  must  require 
them  to  tell  us  what  the  passage  has  told  them.  This 
exercise  in  giving  outward  expression  to  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  which  they  have  made  their  own  is  of  great  value 
educationally."  ^ 

Paraphrasing  is  not  a  common  exercise  in  our  secondary 
schools,  and  the  whole  system  is  one  of  theoretical  rather  than 


^  Lectures  on  Lan^icage  and  Linguistic  Method  in  the  School,  p.  52. 
^  English  Literature  Teachitig  in  Schools,  London,  1891,  p.  32. 


ENGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      239 

practical  importance.     It  is,  however,  so  frequently  brought 

up    for   discussion    that    it    is    of    importance    that   teachers 

should  have   clear  ideas    about    it.     The    gist    of 

Summary. 
the  matter  seems  to  be  as  follows  :  — 

(i)  As  Dr.  Laurie  says,  there  is  no  sense  in  requiring  a 
paraphrase  into  bald  English  of  beautiful  and  intricate  pas- 
sages in  prose  and  verse  if  the  pupil  gets  the  impression  that 
his  bald  version  is  really  the  equivalent  of  the  original.  It 
would  be  better,  as  Dr.  Laurie  suggests,  to  require  in  its  place 
—  if  it  is  necessary  to  make  sure  that  the  original  is  under- 
stood —  a  sort  of  construing  that,  using  the  words  of  the 
original,  would  indicate  the  ordinary  prose  construction. 

(2)  But,  as  Dr.  Laurie  himself  acknowledges,  there  would 
sometimes  be  a  distinct  advantage  in  asking  a  pupil  to  express 
in  his  own  words  his  understanding  of  a  difficult  or  intricate 
prose  passage,  keeping  his  book  closed  meanwhile.  If  so,  it 
is  hard  to  see  why  the  process  would  not  be  equally  helpful  in 
dealing  with  a  similar  poetical  passage,  and  why,  provided  the 
pupil  still  gave  his  own  impressions  in  his  own  words,  his  book 
might  not  as  well  be  open  as  shut. 

(3)  The  point  really  at  issue,  therefore,  is  whether,  inas- 
much as  a  considerable  part  of  the  effect  produced  by  poetry 
or  beautiful  prose  must  be  analogous  to  that  produced  by 
music  and  hence  not  translatable  into  words,  it  is  well  to  en- 
courage any  attempt  to  render  the  impressions  produced  by 
such  passages  into  plain  English. 

But  there  is  obviously  an  intellectual  or  logical  substratum 
for  even  delicate  aesthetic  impressions,  and  it  is  of  value  to  the 
pupil  that  he  be  taught  clearly  to  recognize  this  element  in 
literature,  and,  further,  that  he  be  encouraged  to  express  in 
his  o-rni  words  whatever  he  feels  or  knows.  On  this  basis, 
it  seems  evident  that  those  in  favour  of  paraphrase  have 
won  their  case,  though,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
evident  that  the  exercise  is  mainly  to  be  used  in  direct 
connection  with  the  work  of  literature,  that  it  may  most  often 
be  carried  on  orally,  and  that,  hke  analysis  or  parsing,  it 
should  not  be  continued,  except  at  inter\-als,  after  the  pupil 


240       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

has  learned  to  perform  unconsciously  the  process  of  under- 
standing which  it  aims  to  cultivate. 

With  regard  to  verse  writing  there  is  less  to  be  said,  for  the 
question  has  not  reached  the  stage  of  general  and  public  dis- 
Verse  cussion.     Within  the  last  few  years  a  considerable 

Writing.  number  of  secondary  teachers  have  found  that  they 
could  interest  their  pupils  in  verse  writing,  and  that,  as  a  re- 
sult of  such  training,  their  pupils  were  often  able  to  produce 
very  creditable  verse  and  showed,  in  addition,  a  more  marked 
appreciation  of  English  poetry,^  Other  teachers  have  made  at- 
tempts in  the  same  direction  without  much  success,  and  many 
have  doubted  whether  the  exercise  was  feasible,  unless  in  ex- 
ceptional cases.  The  consensus  of  opinion  appears  to  be  this  : 
(i)  Pupils  must  in  some  way  learn  to  understand  the 
mechanism  of  English  verse.  If  this  is  presented  to  them 
systematically,  as  it  perhaps  should  be,  it  is  quite  likely  that 
they  will  be  considerably  aided  in  understanding  it  by  trying 
themselves  to  write  blank  verse.  This  much  may  be  regarded 
as  fairly  well  established,  both  by  practice  and  by  general 
educational  theory. 

(2)  It  would  be  unwise  to  ask  all  teachers  and  all  classes 
to  go  further  than  this.  But,  when  the  teacher  is  himself 
interested  in  such  work,  it  is  highly  advisable  that  he  should 
try  the  experiment  of  requiring  the  whole  class,  at  some 
appropriate  time,  to  write  several  quatrains,  some  hexameters, 
and  finally  a  sonnet.  He  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  find 
that  many  pupils  succeed  in  doing  their  tasks  well,  and  that 
even  those  who  were  previously  insensible  to  rhythm  and 
rhyme  begin  now  to  get  a  distinct  sense  of  what  the  pleasure 
is  which  poetry  gives,  and  are  stimulated,  if  not  to  further 
writing,  at  least  to  further  reading.  It  is  not  necessary  or 
desirable  that  every  man  and  woman  should  write  verses,  but 
it  is  desirable  that  every  man  and  woman  should  love  poetry,,] 
and  a  little  verse  writing  in  youth  may  prove  one  of  the  most 
efficient  aids  to  this  end. 


1  Chubb,  The  Teaching  of  English,  Q\\2i^t^xy^N\\\. 


ENGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION       241 

(3)  Sc  far  all  the  class  may  go.  Those  who  show  ability 
may  go  further,  if  more  important  tasks  do  not  prevent. 
Especially  in  the  case  of  students  not  going  to  college  it  would 
be  wise,  in  connection  with  the  last  year's  work  in  composi- 
tion, to  give  an  opportunity,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  writing 
not  of  doggerel  parody  but  of  unaffected  and  sincere  verse. 

In  the   process  of  essay  writing,  it  should  be  noticed,  the 
teacher  has  his  share.     The  audience,  the   miniature   public 
which  the  pupil  addresses,  is  the  class,  or,  on  rare 
occasions  perhaps,  the  whole  school.     The  teacher  of  Essay 
is   the    counsellor  of  the  author,  the  protector  of 
the  public.     He  approves  the  subject  as  one  likely  to  interest 
the  little   community ;   he   helps  the  author  in  his  search  for 
material,  and  at  need  in  his  arrangement  of  it ;  but  he  also 
guards  the  public  from    boredom,   refusing    to  accept    in  its 
behalf  the  illiterate  or  carelessly  composed  or  vulgar  essay.     It 
is  a  mistake  or  a  misfortune  to  think  of  the  teacher's  work  as 
beginning  only  when  the  essay  is  handed  in.     It  may,  indeed, 
if  his  method  has  been  well  thought  out  and  his  counsel  good, 
be  almost  wholly  completed. 

It  is  a  mistake,  too,  for  the  teacher  to  allow  himself  to  be 

thought    of    as    an    unscientific    and    unlearned    person   who 

merely  knows  ''  how  to  say  things."     He  is  instead   The  Teacher 

an  expert  in  adolescence.     Himself  mature,  broad-   tion°i^^^" 

minded,  well  read,   he  has   not  entirely  put  away  Expert. 

his  sympathy  with  the  young.     He  understands  them,  knows 

when  to  repress  and  when  to  stimulate,  of  what  is  the  sub- 

stance   of  their  thought,  and  how  their  minds  may  wisely  be 

led  to  subjects  worthy  of  permanent  interest.     This  delicate, 

inspiring,  tactful   influence   may  well  be  the  most  important 

factor   in   their    development.     He    owes    himself,   therefore, 

some  self-esteem,  for  his   place  is  hard   to  fill. 

With  regard  to  the  correction  of  essays,  the  instructor  of 

experience   will  need   no  advice,  but  the  teacher   who  is  just 

entering  on  the  duties  of  his  profession  will,  perhaps,  be  glad 

of  a  few  hints. 

16 


242        ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

( 1 )  The  reading  and  correction  of  essays,  and  the  sub- 
sequent conferences  on  them  with  pupils,  form  by  far  the 
TheCorrec-  "^o^X.  important  part  of  your  work.  Take  pains, 
tion  of  Essays,  therefore,  to  perform  such  duties  with  the  utmost 
thoroughness.  Insist  that  pupils  shall  present  their  manuscripts 
at  the  time  designated,  and  in  the  form  prescribed.  Do  not 
waste  your  time  in  reading  essays  on  which  the  pupil  has  put 
little  time  or  thought.  Mark  such  essays  zero,  and  it  is  not 
likely  that  the  pupil  will  repeat  the  experiment.  Insist,  so  far 
as  possible,  that  sufficient  time  be  given  you  fur  reading  essays 
with  proper  care,  and  for  a  proper  amount  of  conference  on 
them  with  students,  either  individually  or  in  small  groups.  Give 
to  the  task  of  reading  and  correction,  so  far  as  possible,  your 
best  or  freshest  hours,  either  early  in  the  morning  or  just 
after  invigorating  exercise.  The  practice  of  reading  essays 
by  artificial  light,  or  when  jaded,  is  usually  injurious,  both 
physically  and  professionally. 

(2)  When  reading  essays,  make  yourself  as  comfortable  as 
possible,  and  take  measures  to  guard  yourself  against  in- 
The  First  terruption.  You  are  engaged  in  an  important 
Process.  professional  duty,  and  it  is  necessary  that  you 
should  have  all  your  faculties  in  good  working  order.  With 
regard  to  each  essay,  there  are  two  things  to  be  considered. 
First,  has  the  pupil  used  correct  English?  Second,  has  he 
given  to  his  thought  full,  clear,  and  well-balanced  expression? 
The  best  way,  as  a  rule,  is  to  read  each  essay  twice.  The  first 
reading  should  be  for  correctness.  Mark  each  error  in  spelling, 
punctuation,  etc.,  as  you  read,  provided  that  the  errors  are  of 
such  a  kind  that  the  pupil  can  fairly  be  supposed  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  proper  form.  In  the  early  stages  of 
composition  work,  be  careful  not  to  bewilder  the  pupil  by 
calling  his  attention  to  errors  the  consideration  of  which 
properly  belongs  to  a  later  stage  in  his  training.  If  there 
are  many  errors,  the  teacher  should  not  go  further,  and  the 
essay  should  be  returned  for  rewriting. 

So  far  the  teacher's  task  has  been  largely  mechanical,  but 
he  has  as   yet    performed  merely  his  preliminary  and    more 


EXGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION       243 

elementary  office.  If,  in  the  case  of  essays  which  are  in  the 
main  correctly  written,  he  stops  here,  he  is  as  likely  co  have 
done  harm  as  good,  for  he  has  left  untouched  The  Second 
the  most  important  point,  —  has  the  pupil  got  hold  ^°cess. 
of  a  definite  idea  and  given  to  that  idea  a  sufficiently  full, 
clear,  and  well-balanced  expression?  If  he  has,  he  should 
be  praised.  If  he  has  not,  he  should  be  shown  how  and  why. 
But  this  should  be  done,  if  possible,  by  word  of  mouth  and  not 
by  writing.  In  this  second  reading,  then,  the  teacher's  task 
calls  for  good  judgment,  an  insight  into  what  young  people 
may  with  reason  be  expected  to  know,  and  much  skill  in 
seizing  the  hazy  thought  which  the  boy  actually  had  in  mind, 
and  in  drawing  him  on,  little  by  little,  to  see  the  steps  by 
which  that  thought  can  be  well  expressed.  Be  sure,  finally, 
not  to  give  a  high  mark,  under  ordinar}^  circumstances,  to  an 
essay  in  which  the  writer  has  not  honestly  striven  to  give 
expression  to  some  real  thought  of  his  own.  Good  thinking 
expressed  in  incorrect  language  must  not  be  tolerated,  but 
neither  must  correct  language  without  good  thinking.^ 

(3)  Avoid  sarcasm  and  irritable  comments.  Keep  your 
sense  of  humour  wakeful,  and  be  as  kindly  disposed  towards 
your  inferiors  in  skill  as  you  would  wish  your  superiors  to  be 
towards  you. 

(4)  Don't  be  fussy  or  finicky.  No  two  people  write 
alike,  and  it  would  be  abnormal  for  a  youth  to  have  the  style 
of  a  person  of  mature  years.  The  essential  thing  is  that  he 
shall  have  an  idea,  that  he  shall  consciously  strive  to  give 
that  idea  its  best  expression,  and  that  in  the  process  he  shall 
not  have  overstepped  the  bounds  of  correct  usage. 

(5)  Teachers  should  feel  that,  in  proportion  as  they  do 
their  work  skilfully,  they  are  experts,  in  precisely  the  same 
way  and  to  precisely  the  same  degree  that  trained  teachers  of 


1  Here  is  one  of  the  great  stumbling-blocks  in  practical  instruction. 
Many  a  teacher  can  do  excellent  work  on  the  more  mechanical  side,  and 
succeed  in  getting  his  pupils  to  write  clearly  and  correctly,  who  fails 
completely  in  getting  them  to  express  ideas  which  are  other  than  the 
mere  replica  of  what  they  have  just  heard  or  read. 


244       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

mathematics  or  chemistry  are  experts.  To  teach  composition 
well,  one  must  have  scholarship,  cultivation,  good  judgment, 
and  ingenuity. 

(6)  Teachers  of  composition  are  peculiarly  prone,  from 
the  nature  of  their  work,  to  discouragement  and  irritability. 
Don't  try  to  do  more  than  you  can  do  well ;  take  plenty  of 
exercise  and  sleep  ;  work  hard  while  you  do  work,  —  and  if 
you  have  had  the  proper  training,  you  will  surely  do  well. 
If  you  find  your  judgment  growing  confused  while  you  are 
reading  essays,  stop  and  take  some  light  exercise  for  five 
minutes  or  read  an  amusing  book. 


IV.    Language  :  Oral  Composition 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

H.   Corson.     The  Voice   and   Spiritual   Education.     Macmillan.     1897. 

The  Aims  of  Literary  Study.     Macmillan.     1899. 
S.  Thvirber.    How  to  Make  the  Study  of  Literature  Interesting.    School 

Review,  September,  1S98. 

It  was  a  misfortune  that,  during  a  great  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  our  secondary  schools  were  so  largely  engaged 

in  teaching  dead  learning.  Knowledsre  was  con- 
importance  ,r  ,■  ■•.,  ,  ,., 
of  Oral  ceived  of  as  something  acquired  by  the  eye  through 
Compositioii.      ,       ,       .     ^            1            r                 ,         .   . 

books,  independent  of  personal  activity  or  experi- 
ment, to  be  retained  in  the  memory  as  so  much  dead  weight, 
and  at  need  to  be  regurgitated  in  the  form  of  written  words. 
Educational  theory  and  practice  have  in  many  respects  changed 
our  methods  and  our  outlook,  particularly  in  the  natural  sci- 
ences, where  the  laboratory  has  supplanted  the  text-book ;  but 
there  is  danger  that  in  the  field  of  English  we  shall  cling  too 
closely  to  the  old  pedantic  fashion,  and,  while  throwing  §tress 
on  written  composition,  the  more  unreal  and  lifeless  form  of  the 
art,  neglect  oral  composition,  which  is  the  art  in  its  human  and 
natural,  in  its  least  lifeless  and  mechanical  shape.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  it  is  a  mistake  to  conceive  of  language  as  primarily 
wtitten,  of  the  real  or  standard  language  as  expressed  in  visual 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      24S 

symbols,  and  of  speech  as  only  an  artificial,  secondary,  or  de- 
rived form.  Precisely  the  contrary  is  true.  No  study  of  lan- 
guage is  scientific  that  is  not  based  on  the  grouping  of  its 
sounds,  on  its  uses  on  the  lips  of  men.  The  grammar  we  study 
is  too  often  confined  merely  to  the  more  or  less  unnatural  or 
literary  language,  and  we  often  err  in  sending  pupils  to  dic- 
tionaries and  similar  printed  material,  which  are  merely  imper- 
fect works  of  reference,  valuable  mainly  as  rough  and  mechanical 
classifications  of  existing  usage,  —  chiefly  with  regard  to  the 
written  language,  —  when  the  great  source  of  all  such  informa- 
tion, the  primary  facts  of  usage,  the  speech  of  the  intelligent 
and  the  educated,  is  continually  ringing  in  their  dull  ears. 
One  great  advantage  of  laying  stress  on  oral  composition,  then, 
;  is  that  it  tends  to  rivet  the  pupil's  attention  on  the  facts  and 
usages  of  his  native  language  in  their  most  living  and  vital 
forms.  In  the  second  place,  the  pupil  will  be  greatly  helped 
in  his  work  in  written  composition  by  such  practice  in  oral 
composition  as  will  ensure  his  conceiv^ing  of  the  latter  as  the 
normal  or  typical  form  of  expression,  so  that  he  will  write  with 
the  idea  of  how  his  words  will  sound  (rather  than  how  they 
look)  constantly  before  him.  In  the  third  place,  he  will  be 
helped  in  his  study  of  literature,  for,  similarly,  he  will  enrich 
his  store  of  associations  with  English  words  and  phrases,  and, 
what  is  perhaps  even  more  important,  he  will  learn,  through 
his  studies  in  the  control  and  management  of  the  human  voice, 
to  give  to  what  he  reads  a  more  varied  and  adequate  expres- 
sion, and  thereby,  if  the  psychologists  are  right,  to  realize 
more  keenly,  by  the  very  fact  of  possessing  greater  powers  of 
physical  utterance,  the  emotional  value  of  literature.  In  the 
fourth  place,  oral  composition  is  of  practical  importance.  It  is 
only  a  few  who  can  influence  the  public  by  essays  or  written 
appeals  ;  many  men  and  women  —  indeed  almost  all  in  whose 
lives  social,  political,  or  business  affairs  play  any  considerable 
part  —  influence  their  fellows  by  spoken  words.  In  the  Amer- 
ican republic  of  to-day,  almost  as  much  as  in  the  Grecian 
republics  of  two  thousand  years  ago,  the  acquiring  of  skill  in 
speech  is,  for  the  active  citizen,  a  duty  and  a  necessity. 


246       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

The  people  at  large,  and  particularly  teachers,  have  unfor- 
tunately become  somewhat  prejudiced  against  elocution.  We 
Elocution:  mean  by  the  term,  nowadays,  merely  good  habits 
Teacle"^  of  physical  utterance,  but  for  a  long  while  we  per- 
Hecessary?  j^^^pg  thought  of  it  as  a  difficult  and  esoteric  art, 
based  on  a  metaphysics  of  its  own ;  and  we  were  often  encour- 
aged in  this  belief  by  "  elocutionists,"  who  seemed  to  be  not  as 
other  men  because  they  alone  were  master  of  the  inner  wisdom 
that  led  to  such  unnatural  mouthing  of  words  and  such  ab- 
normal gesticulations.  But  now  that  elocution  is  more  rightly 
understood  as  the  simple  and  useful  art,  based  on  the  study  of 
the  human  vocal  organs,  of  clear  and  effective  utterance,  and 
the  elocutionist  merely  the  master  who,  himself  carefully 
trained,  teaches  this  art,  the  situation  is  entirely  different  and 
does  not  call  for  suspicion  or  prejudice.  It  is  clear  that 
secondary  pupils  should  be  trained  in  these  matters.  The 
first  question  is.  Who  shall  train  them?  In  general  and  in  the 
abstract,  it  is  obvious  that  no  special  teacher  should  be  neces- 
sary, precisely  as  in  composition.  We  all  —  presumably  — 
use  our  vocal  organs  properly  and  are  thus  fitted  to  teach 
others.  Practically,  however,  as  in  the  case  of  composition, 
some  are  better  fitted  than  others  for  this  task,  inasmuch  as  the 
effective  use  of  the  voice  is  far  less  common  than  might  be 
thought,  and  skill  in  teaching  the  art  may  also  vary.  It  is 
wiser,  therefore,  for  some  one  of  the  teaching  staff —  prefer- 
ably the  English  master — to  make  himself  responsible  for  the 
whole  matter,  and  for  the  other  teachers  to  co-operate  with 
him  systematically  in  a  task  which  is  as  much  for  their  benefit 
as  for  his.  Where  a  special  teacher  of  singing  is  employed, 
he  may  also  take  the  work  in  elocution,  and  in  large  school 
systems  it  is  advisable  to  have  a  special  instructor  in  voice- 
training  who  has  no  other  duties.  In  this  case  he  should 
know  his  business  thoroughly.  There  is  no  form  of  meta- 
physics that  has  any  bearing  on  the  subject  at  all.  The  train- 
ing of  the  speaking  voice  and  the  training  of  the  singing  voice 
are  precisely  parallel.  Both  require  scientific  knowledge  of 
physical  facts,  natural  aptitude  of  ear  and  voice,  and  skill  in 


ENGLISH  L\  SECOXDARV  EDUCATIOX       247 

teaching,  but    they   have   only  the  remotest  connections  rt'ith 
theoretical  sesthetics,  psychology,  and  philosophy. 

The  results  desired  are  exceedingly  simple  and  have  already 
been  mentioned.  They  are  merely  that  such  of  our  men  and 
women  as  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  high  school  ^j^g  Results 
education  shall  be  able  to  breathe  properly,  use  l>esired. 
their  vocal  organs  properly,  and  have  such  control  and  range 
of  voice  as  to  be  able  to  express  appropriately  various  shades 
of  meaning,  whether  in  ordinary  speech,  in  reading  aloud,  or 
in  public  discourse.  We  need  such  training  sadly.  Few  men 
can  speak  to  an  audience  so  as  to  be  heard  fifty  feet  away, 
even  with  an  unnecessary  expenditure  of  breath  and  muscular 
effort ;  few  women  breathe  properly,  and  the  shrill  nasal  voices 
of  many  of  our  young  women,  in  marked  contrast  with  their 
refinement,  intelligence,  and  beauty,  are  absolutely  unpardon- 
able. Such  training  as  may  be  given  in  a  secondary  school 
will  not  cure  all  these  faults  in  every  case,  but  it  will  certainly 
do  away  with  three-quarters  of  them,  when  teachers  are  earnest 
and  thoughtful,  and  will  help  make  life  better  worth  living  for 
us  all. 

The  practice  of  requiring  each  student  to  ''  declaim  "  before 
his  class  or  the  whole  school,  formerly  much  in  vogue,  is  now 
apparently  disappearing,  and,  for  many  reasons, 
the  change  is  a  mark  of  progress.  The  alleged 
advantages  of  the  old  system  were  {a)  that  it  brought  students 
together  as  a  whole,  in  an  exercise  that  concerned  them  all ; 
{b)  that  it  trained  the  memory ;  (<r)  that  it  gave  an  oppor- 
tunity for  gaining  control  over  the  voice  ;  and  (//)  that  it  led 
the  modest  and  the  timid  to  overcome  their  dread  of  address- 
ing an  audience  and  gave  others  useful  experience  in  the  same 
direction.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  properly  be  urged  {a) 
that  there  are  other  equally  appropriate  occasions  for  the 
assembling  of  students  as  a  whole;  {b)  that  the  memory  is 
sufficiently  trained  in  other  ways;  (r)  that,  unless  supple- 
mented by  careful  training  in  elocution,  declamation  could 
have  httle  effect  on  the  control  of  the  voice  ;  and  {d)  that  the 
public  ordeal  was  scarcely  calculated  to  reassure  the  timid,  — 


248       ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

in  short,  that  the  time,  effort,  and  trouble  involved  in  the 
exercise  were  out  of  proportion  to  the  benefits  derived  from  it. 
It  is  certainly  clear  that  almost  all  of  the  advantages  which 
it  was  supposed  to  offer  can  be  easily  secured  from  the  practice 
of  reading  aloud  in  the  classroom,  which  is  further  made 
desirable  by  the  fact  that  it  does  not  tempt  the  pupil  into  an 
artificial,  exaggerated,  and  gesticulatory  form  of  delivery.  If 
students  have  had,  however,  proper  drill  in  elocution  and 
sufficient  practice  in  reading  aloud,  it  can  do  them  no  harm, 
towards  the  end  of  their  course,  to  give  declamations  or  to 
read  their  own  compositions  before  the  whole  school,  and  the 
experience  will  probably  often  be  useful  to  them. 

For  the  old  system  of  declamation  may  be  substituted,  in 
short,  a  less  formal  and  more  effective  method,  by  which  even 
Reading  better  results  are  obtained.     The  teacher  of  elocu- 

Aiood.  ^Jqj^  (^Qgg  j^jg  p^j.j.^  Qj.^  ^Q  speak  more  in  accord- 

ance with  what  is  likely  to  be  the  fact  in  the  average  school, 
the  teacher  of  English,  at  a  fairly  early  point  in  the  course, 
gives  to  the  entering  class  a  sufficient  number  of  sensible  and 
thorough  exercises  in  the  management  of  the  voice,  and  ex- 
plains to  them  the  principles  which  must  be  borne  in  mind 
until  their  application  becomes  habitual.  But  the  main  ele- 
ment in  the  instruction  we  are  discussing  is  simply  reading 
aloud,  practised  in  connection  with  the  work  in  literature  and 
in  composition,  —  reading  which  shall  be  carried  on  regularly, 
week  in  and  week  out,  year  in  and  year  out,  throughout  the 
course  ;  and  which  shall  aim  simply  to  be  audible,  natural,  and 
expressive.  If  this  plan  be  adopted,  if  no  exercise  in  compo- 
sition or  literature  take  place  without  at  least  one  pupil's 
reading  aloud  with  these  objects  in  mind,  the  problem  will  be 
found  to  solve  itself.  Not  only  that :  it  will  be  apparent, 
unless  all  theory  and  experience  be  at  fault,  that  the  other 
branches  of  English  study  will  be  correspondingly  benefited. 
We  cannot  read  well  without  recognizing  clearly  the  meaning 
and  force  of  words  and  the  structure  of  sentences  and  para- 
graphs. And,  conversely,  if  we  read  well,  we  are  sure  not 
to  be  lacking  in  knowledge   of  grammar  and  in  a  grasp  of 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      249 

literature,  and   we   are  likely  to  write   much  better  than  we 
otherwise  should. 

In  a  well-arranged  secondary  course  in  English  it  is  almost  im- 
possible not  to  provide  for  a  considerable  amount  of  training  in 
oral  composition.  Even  in  the  elementary  school,  qj.^ 
oral  composition  is  the  natural  and  proper  prelimi-  Composition. 
nary  to  written  composition.  In  the  high  school  it  is  equally  im- 
portant that  oral  composition  should  not  be  pushed  too  far  in 
the  background,  for  speech  —  not  writing  —  is  the  vital  and 
essential  form  of  language.  All  good  teachers  will  encourage 
and  demand  topical  recitations  at  frequent  intervals,  and  teachers 
of  English  will  be  helped  by  fostering  discussion  and  the  free 
expression  of  opinion,  within  necessary  limits,  by  advising 
pupils  to  get  their  materials  for  composition  so  thoroughly  in 
mind,  before  writing  their  essays,  that  they  can  utter  their 
thoughts  freely  and  concisely,  and  by  sometimes  requiring 
them  to  do  so.  The  students'  own  ambition  will  also  further 
the  end  in  view.  They  will  have  their  literary  societies,  their 
debating  societies.  These  the  teacher  will  encourage  warily, 
for  they  often  waste  time  and  breed  affectation  and  the  mere 
spouting  of  nonsense.  Particularly  must  he  be  on  his  guard 
with  reference  to  debating.  Adolescents  can  go  through  the 
form  of  debate,  but  real_debating,  in  which  the  truth  is  sought 
through  rigid  testing  of  evidence  and  sound  induction  and 
deduction,  is  beyond  their  stage  of  mental  growth,  and  is  as 
harmful  to  their  immature  minds  as  certain  forms  of  athletics 
would  be  to  their  immature  bodies.  The  more  careful  exposi- 
tion boys  and  girls  do,  the  better  for  them  ;  and  a  dash  of 
attempted  argument  from  time  to  time  may  not  be  amiss. 
But  if  they  must  debate,  let  them  act  under  the  direction  of 
some  older  and  wiser  head,  who  will  lead  them  to  simple 
subjects,  and,  even  in  these,  take  pains  to  make  it  evident  that 
only  under  exceptional  circumstances  will  they  be  able  really 
to  prove  any  proposition  whatsoever. 


250      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 


Part  n. — Literature  in  the  Secondary  Schools 

For  the  general  bibliography,  see  the  bibliographies  prefixed  to  this 
chapter  and  to  Chapter  II. 

So  many  and  so  effective  have  been  the  justifications  of 
the  introduction  of  Uterature  into  the  secondary  course  of 
study,^  that  the  question  may  now  be  considered 
EstabUshed  as  fully  answered.  English  literature  is  now,  in 
°  ^^^ '  all    good   secondary   schools,  a   subject   of  good 

standing,  having  its  share  of  time  in  the  regular  school 
program.  The  pre-eminence  once  given  to  the  classics  and 
mathematics  has  passed,  and  in  many  cases  has  been  given  to 
English  literature. 

The  doubts  as  to  whether  it  can  be  taught  are  also  ceasing, 
for  the  sufficient  reason  that  it  is  taught  in  many  schools  with 
which  can  ^^  great  measure  of  success  as  are  the  other 
be  Taught,  subjects,  whether  judged  by  its  opportunities  as  a 
means  of  discipline,  as  a  subject  of  information,  or  as  a  means 
of  cultivating  taste.  The  grounds  on  which  its  claims  rest,  — 
as  a  means  of  knowing  life,  as  a  source  of  the  higher  pleasures, 
and  Is  worth  ^^  ^  iorvd  of  training,  and  as  an  ethical  force,  are 
Teaching.  the  same  as  obtain  in  the  elementary  school,  and 
have  been  discussed  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  that  subject. 

The  divergences  of  opinion  with  regard  to  its  treatment 
in  the  secondary  school  are  concerned  with  other  matters  : 
What  Aspects  ^^'^"^  ^^^  questions  how,  how  much,  in  what  order, 
jec^shau'be  ^^^  including  what  sorts  of  facts  and  ideas.  In 
Taught?  no  subject  is  there  greater  variety  in  the  content 

and  method  of  instruction  than  in  literature.  The  personality 
of  the  teacher  and  the  bent  of  the  department  of  the  university 
which  gave  him  his  training,  the  requirements  of  the  various 


1  See  especially  Laurie,  Hinsdale,  and  Corson,  cited  above,  and  the 
files  of  The  Academy,  The  School  Review,  and  The  Educational 
Review. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      2$  I 

colleges  as  indicated  in  their  entrance  examinations,^  the 
standards  maintained  by  state  systems,  and  the  home  life  and 
previous  reading  of  the  pupils,  all  condition  and  determine 
the  instruction.  In  fact,  the  subject  is  and  mnst  always  remain 
not  only  one  of  the  most  vaguely  defined,  but  one  of  those  in 
which  the  personal  element  in  teacher  and  pupil  is  most 
present  and  most  valuable.  For  not  only  are  aesthetics  and 
the  canons  of  criticism  in  a  most  unsettled  state,^  but  literature, 
being  an  art,  is  an  expression  of  a  personal  point  of  view  of 
the  author,  —  is,  in  fact,  his  interpretation  of  a  certain  phiise 
of  life,  —  and  deals  with  that  class  of  phenomena  regarding 
which  it  is  most  difficult  and  unsafe  to  dogmatize.  Moreover, 
it  must  always  be  that  the  different  aspects  of  literature  will 
have  different  degrees  of  interest  for  different  minds ;  the 
aesthetic,  the  philosophical,  the  linguistic,  or  the  historical  may 
appeal  to  us  with  peculiar  force. 

But  no  matter  what  our  peculiar  predilections  may  be,  it  is 
obvious  that  for  pupils  of  the  secondary  schools  the  first  thing 
in  studying  literature  is  to  understand  it  and  enjoy  it.  It  is 
even  held  by  many  good  teachers  'that  this  is  also  the  last 
thing,  —  a  position  of  considerable  strength,  provided  the 
term  "  understand  "  is  sufficiently  comprehensive. 

It  can  rarely  be  assumed  that  the  pupil  at  the  beginnmg  of 
his  high  school  course  thoroughly  understands  what  he  reads. 
No  matter  how  good  his  previous  instruction,  he  reads  with  im- 
perfect analytic  powers,  with  a  knowledge  of  words  neither 
full  nor  exact,  with  a  limited  acquaintance  in  the  fields  from 
which  literary  allusions  are  drawn,  and  with  an  experience  of 
life  as  yet  far  too  najjow  to  give  his  reading  full  significance. 
His  knowledge:  of  literary  form  and  his  ability  to  perceive 
relations. ^are'siight.  When  he  reads  simple  stories,  like  Silas 
Marner,  he  gets  the  story,  the  motives  of  the  action,  and  the 


1  See  Regents'  Bulletin,  Albany,  June,  1897,  by  Richard  Jones. 

2  See  The  Authority  of  Criticistn  by  W.  P.  Trent;  Literary  Criticism 
by  Gayley  and  Scott,  and  "The  Relation  of  Art  to  Truth,"  by  W.  H. 
Mallock,  Forum,  IX.  36. 


<^ 


252      EXGLISH  IN  SECOXDARY  EDUCATION 

broader  differences  of  character.  If  his  earlier  instruction  has 
included  such  things,  he  may  see  the  purpose  of  the  book  as 
a  whole,  and  understand  a  little  of  its  structure.  If  he  reads 
a  poem,  like  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  he  may  be  impressed 
with  the  beauty  of  certain  scenes,  get  the  drift  and  significance 
of  the  poem  as  a  whole,  and  feel  some  of  the  charm  of  metre 
and  diction.  If  he  reads  an  essay,  like  the  simpler  ones  of 
Irving  or  Addison,  he  gets  the  thought  in  sentences,  but 
seldom   sees   the  whole   essay  in  its  developed  idea. 

In  general,  he  will  understand  and  appreciate,  but  in  limited 
degree.  The  work  of  the  teacher,  therefore,  is  to  lead  him  to 
understand  better  and  to  enjoy  more. 

In  the  purely  intellectual  side  of  the  work  there  are  certain 
definite  things  to  be  aimed  at :  — 

(i)  Words  are  to  be  learned.  The  diction  of  ordinary 
life  has  many  terms  with  whose  exact  meaning  the  pupil  is 
The  Study  ^^^  famihar.  The  diction  of  literature  being  more 
of  Words.  artificial,  more  analytic,  and  richer,  will  include 
many  terms  either  new  or  imperfectly  known.  These  are 
to  be  learned  in  their  relationships,  and  not  as  disjecta 
membra.  The  dictionary  should  become  not  only  a  familiar 
book,  but  an  interesting  book ;  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  a 
too  frequent  use  of  the  dictionary.  Interest  in  words  can  be 
cultivated  by  skilful  discussion  of  their  meanings  and  their 
suggestiveness.  Clear  paraphrasing  of  difficult  passages 
should  be  often  required.  In  reading  Shakspere  such  study 
is  of  the  first  importance.  Much  of  the  failure  in  intelligent 
interest  in  this  poet  is  due  solely  to  the  unfamiliarity  of  his 
diction.^  Ruskin's  well-known  passages  on  this  subject  of 
knowing  words  should  be  familiar  to  all  young  readers  :  — 

"  You  must  get  yourself  into  the  habit  of  looking  intensely 
at  words,  and  assuring  yourself  of  their  meaning,  syllable  by 
syllable,  letter  by  letter.  You  might  read  all  the  books  in  the 
British  Museum  (if  you  could  live  long  enough)  and  remain 


1  Schmidt's  Shakespeare  Lexikon  should  be  in  the  possession  of  every 
secondary  school. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     253 

an  utterly  '  illiterate,'  uneducated  person  :  but  if  you  read 
ten  pages  of  a  good  book,  letter  by  letter, —  that  is  to  say 
with  real  accuracy,  —  you  are  forevermore  in  some  measure 
an  educated  person."  ^  This  is,  perhaps,  an  extreme  statement, 
but  there  is  essential  truth  in  it.  Slipshod,  careless  reading 
never  raises  a  student  to  the  higher  level  of  power.  He  may 
gain  vague  ideas  and  real  emotional  experiences  thereby,  but 
he  will  not  get  the  best  that  literature  holds  for  him.  What 
is  suggested  in  the  language  of  literature  is  greater  and  more 
beautiful  than  what  is  obviously  said,  so  that  only  the  most 
careful,  thoughtful  reading  will  reveal  -the  beauty  or  the 
strength  of  the  passage. 

(2)  Allusions  must  be  learned.     Only  a  few  of  the  books 

read  in    the   high  school  are   so  allusive   as  to   make  this  a 

difificult  task.-     But  even  though  the  looking  up  of 

,         r  .        ,  ,  ,  .     .  .  Allusions, 

such  references  mvolv^es  some  labour,  it  is  one  of 

the  things  to  be  done.  In  the  preceding  chapter^  the  treat- 
ment of  allusions  has  been  discussed  at  some  length.  The 
principles  there  stated  for  the  elementary  school  apply  equally 
to  the  secondary  school. 

(3)  But  the  study  of  literature  which  stops  with  the  learn- 
ing of  words  and  allusions  is  entirely  inadequate.  These 
things  are  but  a  part  of  what  is  involved  in  intel- 
ligent reading.  A  work  of  literature  is  an  art,  ^*""^"- 
and  therefore  follows  certain  laws  of  structure.  These  laws 
may  not  be  perfectly  or  mechanically  obeyed  ;  but  they  are 
evident  to  the  thoughtful  reader.  The  order  in  which  a  topic 
is  developed  in  a  paragraph,  the  development  of  a  theme  in 
a  story,  the  relations  to  each  other  of  the  parts  of  any  sort  of 
literary  composition,  are  a  part  of  the  qualities  that  make  it 
literature  and  therefore  legitimate  subjects  for  consideration. 
For  the   same  reason  the  metrical  structure  of  poetry  should 


1  See  his  Sfsame  mid  Lilies  for  this  and  much  more  of  the  same  tenor. 
-  Milton's  poems  and  Tennyson's  The  Princess  are  examples  of  books 
made  difficult  by  excessive  allusiveness. 
^  See  pp.  167-169. 


254      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

be  considered.  The  scansion  of  poetry  is  an  easy  matter 
(though  the  theories  as  to  the  nature  of  EngUsh  verse  may 
differ),  and  well  worth  doing  for  the  increase  of  one's  enjoy- 
ment of  the  form. 

(4)  Necessary  as  it  is  to  understand  the  diction  and  appre- 
ciate the  forms  of  literature,  these  are,  after  all,  to  be  regarded 

„  .  ^  only  as  means  in  the  effective  achievement  of  an 
Meaning  of 

theBookas  end,  which  end  is  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  the 
aWhole*  ,    '         „,  .     .      ,         .,,.*,         ,    , 

whole.      1  his  is  the  vital  thing ;  the  whole  story, 

the  whole  play,  the  whole  poem,  with  their  significance  as  pres- 
entations of  some  thought,  some  mood,  some  phase  of  life. 
No  appreciation  of  single  parts  or  of  particular  effects  is  suffi- 
cient. We  must  know  and  feel  the  book  as  a  whole.  ^  What 
does  it  mean?  What,  in  a  few  words,  would  be  a  bare  and 
prosaic  statement  of  the  author's  idea?  What  is  his  attitude 
towards  his  theme?  What  are  the  emotions  aroused?  In 
fine,  what  is  this  thing?  Of  course  an  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions put  in  our  own  words  is  ridiculously  inadequate  compared 
with  the  idea  as  revealed  in  and  through  the  book.  But  none 
the  less  such  are  the  questions  we  must  put  to  ourselves  when 
we  thoughtfully  weigh  what  we  read. 

In  the  study  of  any  given  piece  of  literature  we  may  concern 
ourselves  primarily  with  it  as  a  revelation  of  the  personality  of 
the  author,  as  a  link  in  the  chain  of  development  of  that  type 
of  literature,  as  an  expression  of  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  time 
in  which  it  was  written,  or  as  a  work  of  art  to  be  judged  en- 
tirely in  comparison  with  ideal  standards.3    - 

I.  When  we  consider  a  piece  of  literature  as  a  revelation  of 
the  author's  personality,  we  must  not  only  bring  to  it  the 
,j,jjg  power  of  analysis  that  makes  clear  the  thoughts  and 

PewonaUty  ideals,  the  views  of  life  and  feelings  that  it  repre- 
Author.  sents,  but  must  know  something  of  the  biography 

of  the  author  ;   his  other  works,  the  conditions  and  influences 


1  See  an  interesting  article  by  Professor  Calvin  Thomas  on  "  Litera- 
ture and  Personality  "  in  Proceedings  of  the  Modern  Language  Association, 
XII.  1S96. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     255 

of  his  environment,  the  characteristic  quaUties  of  contem- 
porary hterature,  and  the  literary  and  other  formative  influences 
that  immediately  affected  his  work.  In  Mrs.  Shelley's  Frayiken- 
stein,  for  example,  we  have  a  good  opportunity  for  such  study.^ 
We  know  the  company  and  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
story  was  conceived,  the  literary  models  that  were  in  immedi- 
ate influence  over  the  circle  of  which  she  was  a  part,  the  phil- 
osophical ideas  in  which  she  was  reared  ;  and  we  can  see  these 
things  abundantly  reflected  in  her  development  of  the  story. 
In  George  Eliot's  works  we  can  see  her  democratic  sympathies, 
her  scientific  and  philosophical  interests,  and  her  attitude  of 
protest  against  the  false  and  restricted  conventions  of  thought. 
In  Tennyson  we  find  a  respect  for  law  working  by  evolutionary 
processes  and  a  belief  in  the  ultimate  elevation  of  humanity. 
How  different  Milton  was  from  the  proverbial  psalm-singing 
Puritan  of  satire  and  stary  lies  on  the  surface  in  L Allegro  and 
//  Fensef'oso.  The  dominant  mental  attitudes  of  Dickens, 
Thackeray,  and  Browning  are  familiar  to  all  their  thoughtful 
readers. 

The  examples  here  cited  at  once  suggest  our  first  difficulty  : 
that  of  discriminating  between  the  individuality  of  the  particu- 
lar author  and  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  Such 
discrimination,  calling  for  keen  powers  of  analysis  and  full 
knowledge  of  the  intellectual  life  of  the  time,  is  not  a  task 
for  school  boys.  We  must  be  content  if  they  gather  a  sense 
of  what  the  author  was,  what  he  thought  and  felt,  without 
attempting  the  measure  of  his  originality. 

But  the  acquaintance  with  a  great  author  means  yet  more. 
Professor  Dowden  well  summarizes  it  in  his  excellent  essay  on 
The  Interpretatio7i  of  Literature  .•  ^  — 

"  From  each  work  of  a  great  author  we  advance  to  his 
total  work,  and  thence  to  the  man  himself, — to  the  heart 
and  brain  from  which  all  this  manifold  world  of  wisdom 
and   wit    and    passion    and    beauty    has    proceeded.      Here 


1  See  Mrs.  Shelley's  Introduction  to  the  story.- 

2  See  this  essay  in  his  Transcripts  and  Studies,  London,  18S8. 


256      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

again,  before  we  address  ourselves  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  author's  mind,  we  patiently  submit  ourselves  to  a 
vast  series  of  impressions.  And  in  accordance  with  Bacon's 
maxim  that  a  prudent  interrogation  is  the  half  of  knowl- 
edge, it  is  right  to  provide  ourselves  with  a  number  of 
well-considered  questions  which  we  may  address  to  our  author. 
Let  us  cross-examine  him  as  students  of  mental  and  moral 
science,  and  find  replies  in  his  written  words.  Are  his  senses 
vigorous  and  fine  ?  Does  he  see  colour  as  well  as  form  ?  Does 
he  delight  in  all  that  appeals  to  the  sense  of  hearing,  —  the 
voices  of  Nature,  and  the  melody  and  harmonies  of  the  art  of 
man?  Thus  Wordsworth,  exquisitely  organized  for  enjoying 
and  interpreting  all  natural,  and,  if  we  may  so  say,  homeless 
and  primitive  sounds,  had  little  feeling  for  the  delights  of 
music.  Can  he  enrich  his  poetry  by  gifts  from  the  sense  of 
smell,  as  did  Keats  ;  or  is  his  nose,  like  Wordsworth's,  an  idle 
promontory  projecting  into  a  desert  ai:?  Has  he,  like  Brown- 
ing, a  vigorous  pleasure  in  all  strenuous  muscular  movements ; 
or  does  he,  like  Shelley,  live  rapturously  in  the  finest  nervous 
thrills  ?  How  does  he  experience  and  interpret  the  feeling  of 
sex,  and  in  what  parts  of  his  entire  nature  does  that  feeling 
find  its  elevating  connections  and  associations?  What  are  his 
special  intellectual  powers?  Is  his  intellect  combative  or  con- 
templative? What  are  the  laws  which  chiefly  preside  over  the 
associations  of  his  ideas?  What  are  the  emotions  which  he 
feels  most  strongly,  and  how  do  his  emotions  coalesce  with  one 
another?  Wonder,  terror,  awe,  love,  grief,  hope,  despon- 
dency, the  benevolent  affections,  admiration  and  religious  senti- 
ment, the  moral  sentiment,  the  emotion  of  power,  irascible 
emotion,  ideal  emotion  —  how  do  these  make  themselves  felt 
in  and  through  his  writings?  What  is  his  feeling  for  the  beau- 
tiful, the  sublime,  the  ludicrous?  Is  he  of  weak  or  vigorous 
will?  In  the  conflict  of  motives,  which  class  of  motives  with 
him  is  likely  to  predominate  ?  Is  he  framed  to  believe  or 
framed  to  doubt  ?  Is  he  prudent,  just,  temperate,  or  the  re- 
verse of  these  ?  These  and  like  questions  are  not  to  be  crudely 
and  formally  proposed,  but  are  to  be  used  with  tact ;  nor 
should  the  critic  press  for  hard  and  definite  answers,  but  know 
how  skilfully  to  glean  its  meaning  from  an  evasion.  He  is  a 
dull  cross-examiner  who  will  invariably  follow  the  scheme 
which  he  has  thought  out  and  prepared  beforehand,  and  who 
cannot  vary  his  questions  to  surprise  or  beguile  the  truth  from 
an  unwilling  witness.     But  the  tact  which  comes  from  natural 


EXGLISH  IX  SECOXDARY  EDUCATIOiX     257 

gift  and  from  experience  may  be  well  supported  by  something 
of  method,  —  method  well  hidden  away  from  the  surface  and 
from  sight." 

2.  We  may  be  interested  in  that  form  of  comparative  study 
which  considers  a  piece  of  literature  in  its  place  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  type.  The  De  Coverley  Papers  fore- 
cast the  emergence  of  the  modern  novel  from  the  Development 
essay  on  men  and  manners/  and  Goldsmith  carries  **  ^^' 
the  development  a  little  further  in  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield, 
though  still  encumbered  with  the  essayist's  attitude  of  mind. 
Macbeth  and  King  Lear  are  higher  forms  of  art  than  their 
predecessors,  the  "  tragedies  of  blood  "  of  a  few  years  earlier. 
So  m  the  various  forms  of  Enghsh  Literature  there  is  evident 
a  continuous  series  of  changes,  sometimes  in  the  development 
to  more  perfect  types,  sometimes  in  the  decadence  of  perfected 
types.     These  changes  are  evident  in  both  form  and  content. 

(i)    In  form,  such  work  as  that  of  Fielding  in  the  eighteenth 
century  and  Jane  Austen  in  the  nineteenth  centurj'  are  excel- 
lent examples  of  progress  towards  a  definite  organic 
structure  unknown  to  the  early  periods  of  English  ' 

prose  fiction.  Certain  metrical  developments,  like  the  blank 
verse  of  Shakspere  and  ^Milton  and  the  heroic  couplets  of 
Dryden  and  Pope  ;  the  clear  and  direct  prose  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  the  equally  clear  and  more  flowing  prose  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  are  examples  of  another  development  in 
form. 

(2)    More  interesting  to  most  readers  is  the  development 

of  ideas  and  their  expression  in  liferature*.     What  Addison  and 

Steele  tell  us  of  the  thought  and  feeling  of  the 

and  Content. 
London  of  Queen  Anne,   what  Jane  Austen   and 

Shelley  and  Byron  give  us  of  the  forms  of  thought  a  century  later, 

and  the  full  light  thrown  upon  the  intellectual  life  of  England 

by  later  poets  and  novelists,  are  matters  of  surpassing  interest.^ 


1  See  Cross's  Droelopment  of  the  English  N'ovel,  New  York,  1900. 

2  See,  for  example,  Vida  D.  Scudder's  Social  Ideals  in  English  Litera- 
ture, Boston,  1900. 

17 


258      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

(3)  The  judgment  of  a  piece  of  literature  is,  by  general 
admission,  most  fascinating  and  most  difficult.  Every  book 
Critical  ^^'^  xtd.A  challenges  us  to  a  critical  estimate,  and 

Study.  ^jj  Qf  yg^  j^Q  matter  how  unqualified  we  may  be  by 

native  gifts  and  experience,  respond  to  the  challenge  by  mak- 
ing our  estimate  of  its  value.  And  yet,  though  we  are  thus 
constrained  to  pass  judgment  upon  our  literary  as  upon  our 
other  experiences,  the  history  of  contemporary  criticism  pre- 
sents a  series  of  blunders  perhaps  more  egregious  and  amusing 
than  any  other  field  of  thought.  With  a  few  brilliant  excep- 
tions, the  only  safe  criticism  is  the  result  of  the  accumulated 
verdicts  of  several  generations.  Nor  is  the  criticism  of  books 
seen  in  their  due  perspective  of  time  in  much  better  case. 
Where  there  is  agreement  that  the  book  or  the  author  is  great, 
there  is  the  widest  difference  as  to  what  the  nature  of  the 
greatness  is.  Shakspere  is  variously  commended  for  his  art, 
his  wisdom,  or  his  learning ;  and  those  who  find  one  of  these 
qualities  often  deny  or  ignore  the  others.  Such  difficulties 
proceed  in  part  from  the  lack  of  agreement  in  the  fundamen- 
tals of  aesthetics,  in  part  from  the  personal  bias  which  enters 
so  largely  into  our  appreciation  of  any  form  of  art,  in  part 
from  general  ignorance  of  the  field  in  which  the  criticism  is 
made,  in  part  from  the  lack  of  mental  powers  and  of  that 
peculiar  sensitiveness  which  is  a  lesser  form  of  the  same 
qualities  that  make  the  poet.  Notwithstanding  the  limitation 
upon  our  power  of  criticism,  it  is  neither  to  be  expected  nor 
desired  that  we  should  cease  to  exercise  our  judgment.  The 
judgment  grows  by  exercise  even  of  a  crude  sort.  What  is  to 
be  deprecated  is  a  readiness  to  form  dogmatic  conclusions,  and 
to  ignore  the  value  of  wide  knowledge  and  experience. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  most  of  our  thoughtful  reading  we  are 
interested  in  all  the  foregoing  questions.  We  seek  to  know 
the  author  better  and  to  get  his  peculiar  message  for  us,  to 
place  the  book  in  its  proper  relation  in  the  historical  develop- 
ment in  our  litej:ature,  and  to  judge  of  its  actual  value  as  a 
revelation  of  life  and  a  thing  of  beauty.  Dififerent  works  do, 
however,  interest  us  in  greater  degrees  in  one  or  other  of  these 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      259 

topics  :  sometimes  it  is  the  historical  aspect,  sometimes  the 
personal  element,  sometimes  the  mere  beauty  of  the  work  that 
attracts  us.  .^ 

The  selection  of  the  present  uniform  series  of  books  known 
as  "  the  college  entrance  requirements  "  is  discussed  elsewhere. 
As  they  form  the  bulk  of  the  English  curriculum  in  most  schools, 
and  as  they  also  include  all  the  types  of  literature  that  are 
studied,  —  the  novel,  the  essay,  the  lyric,  the  romantic  narrative 
poem,  and  the  drama,  —  with  the  distinctive  traits  of  most  of  the 
literary  groups  from  Shakspere  to  Tennyson,  it  will  be  most 
convenient  to  discuss  the  teaching  of  literature  through  them 
as  examples. 

In  fiction  the  primary  interest  is  in  the  story.  To  get  a  full 
and  clear  knowledge  of  the  story  is  the  first  thing.  Such 
knowledge  must  include  a  vivid  imagining  of  the  The  Study  of 
action,  and  a  perception  of  the  order  and  arrange-  ^he  Hovel, 
ment  of  the  incidents,  —  particularly  where  they  are  related  as 
cause  and  effect.  To  decry  the  interest  in  the  mere  story  is 
to  misapprehend  the  value  and  purpose  of  this  form  of  art. 
In  good  fiction  the  story  is  the  embodiment  of  the  author's 
view  of  some  phase  of  human  life,  given  not  in  abstract  terms' 
but  as  a  concrete  vision.  Its  great  value  lies  not  only  in  its 
powerful  appeal  to  our  interest  and  its  effect  upon  our 
emotions,  but  also  in  the  persistence  with  which  it  lives  in  our 
memory,  ready  to  take  on  new  and  deeper  meaning  as  we 
reinterpret  it  in  the  light  of  wider  experience  and  deeper 
thought.  What  the  later  centuries  with  their  modified  points 
of  view  have  added  to  the  meaning  of  such  works  as  Don 
Quixote  and  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  the  individual  man  may 
do  with  the  memories  of  stories  read  in  his  boyhood. 

The  plot  should  be  studied  not  only  to  be  known  as  a  story,! 
but  in  its  structure,  as  a  thing  of  parts  skilfully  built  to  pro- 1 
duce  a  unified  effect.i     The  introduction,  in  its  function  of 


1  See  the  volume  on  N'arration,  by  W.  T.  Brewster,  New  York,  1895, 
and  the  bibliography  there  given  for  the  study  of  narration.     See  also 


260      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

fixing  the  story  in  time  and  place,  of  presenting  the  characters, 
or  of  giving  the  tone  of  the  narrative,  or  of  all  these  func- 
tions, should  be  noted.     The  development  of  the 
The  Plot.  ,       ,       .     . ,  ,       .  .  ^       .     .     ^ 

plot   by  mcident,  the    interweavmg   of  prmcipal 

and  subordinate  plots  and  their  points  of  contact,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  action  in  certain  large  and  vivid    scenes,  with 

lesser  incidents  between,  as  in  Ivanhoe,  the  climax 
Structure.  ^  ,  ,    ,  ...  ^    ,         , 

of  the  action,  and  the  unravellmg  of  the  plot  to  its 

denouement  should  be  carefully  noted.  Throughout  all  such 
study  the  question  of  the  probability  of  the  action,^  its  truth  to 
human  hfe,  and  its  use  of  ordinary  or  extraordinary  means,  will 
serve  to  stimulate  interest  and  understanding.  It  is  worth  while 
to  ask,  for  example,  whether  so  skilful  and  probable  a  story  as 
Silas  Alarner  is  not  impaired  by  the  employment  of  the 
hero's  cataleptic  trances  in  the  two  crises  of  his  history,  or 
by  the  use  of  the  stone-pit  for  the  obvious  convenience  of  the 
author  in  abstracting  and  restoring  the  hero's  gold  at  con- 
venient seasons  ;  or  whether  the  probability  of  The  Rime  of  the 
Afieient  Mariner,  as  a  spiritual  experience,  is  impaired  by  the 
impossibility  of  its  material  events. 

Closely  related  to  the  study  of  plot  is  that  of  character.  In 
the  higher  type  of  narrative,  the  interest  in  plot  is  bound  up 
with  the  interest  in  character :  plot  is  the  means 
by  which  character  is  set  forth  and  developed,  the 
author's  medium  of  portraying  human  life.  In  the  study  of 
fiction,  therefore,  we  note  the  interaction  between  plot  and 
character ;  we  are  interested  in  seeing  how  each  affects  or 
determines  the  other.  The  portrayal  of  character  is  also  in- 
teresting apart  from  the  plot.  The  celebrated  characters  of 
literature  are  types  of  human  nature,  throwing  into  high  relief 
its  various  phases.  By  acquaintance  with  them  we  not  only 
widen  our  knowledge  of  the  world  of  men  and  women  about 


Crawshaw's  Interp)-etatton  of  Literature,  New  York,  1S96,  and  T/ie  Study 
of  Fiction,  by  A.  W.  Hitchcock,  Boston,  1899. 

1  See  Chapters  II.  and  III.  in  Butcher's  ^;7j-/'^///j  Theory  of  Poetry 
and  Fine  Art,  London,  1896,  and  \^ oo^zxxfs  Heart  of  Man,  New  York, 
1900. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      261 

us,  but  become  more  definitely  conscious  of  what  we  ourselves 
are,  actually  or  potentially.  Each  of  us  finds  in  himself  the 
counterpart  of  the  simple  Vicar,  the  ambitious  Macbeth,  the 
unreasonable  Lear,  or  even  the  witty,  boastful,  and  evasive 
Falstaff. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  pupils  in  the  secondary  school 
will  make  minute  analysis  of  traits  of  character.  Such  a  re- 
quirement usually  leads  them  into  vague  attempts  at  classifica- 
tion and  dulls  their  interest.  But  they  can  be  led  to  see 
and  name  the  salient  points,  to  note  how  the  character  is 
made  to  reveal  himself,  and  to  see  in  the  revelation  some 
phase  of  our  common  human  nature,  either  in  the  type  as  it 
stands  or  in  the  relationship  held  by  the  character  to  the  life 
about  him. 

But  plot  and  character  in  their  interrelations  are,  as  has  been 
said,  the  means  by  which  the  author  presents  his  thoughts  and 
feelings  about  Hfe,  that  is,  his  interpretation  of  interpreta- 
life.  What  this  large  effect  of  the  story  is,  may  *^''°- 
well  be  considered.  \\'e  must  ask.  What  does  the  work  mean 
as  a  whole  ?  What  is  the  author's  own  dominant  interest  in 
the  story?  Where  do  his  sympathies  lie?  How  would  he 
state  his  idea  in  simple  form,  if,  like  Hawthorne  in  his 
American  Notes,  he  had  made  jottings  of  ideas  to  be  embodied 
in  stories?  It  is  not  assumed  here  that  every  story  has  a 
moral  purpose.  The  author's  aim  may  be  as  purely  aesthetic 
as  is  that  of  the  artist  who  paints  a  rose.  Between  Scott 
and  George  Eliot  one  feels  a  wide  difference  in  ethical 
interest.  But  it  is  just  as  pertinent  to  ask  ourselves  the 
aim  and  interest  in  a  romance  by  the  former  as  in  a  novel  by 
the  latter. 

In  the  study  of  fiction  as  here  suggested,  the  teacher  must 
exercise  a  large  freedom.  Some  books  may  be  touched  lightly, 
others  in  greater  detail ;  in  the  same  book  different  parts  will 
receive  quite  different  degrees  of  attention.  Above  all  things, 
the  work  must  not  become  formal  and  mechanical,  but  must 
keep  alive  the  interest  in  the  movement  and  meaning  of  the 
story.     As  an   example  of  the  fuller  treatment  an  analysis  of 


262      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

Chapter  XII.  of  Silas  Marner  may  be  taken.^  The  pupils  may 
be  asked  to  note  how  the  introductory  sentence  is  transitional ; 
what  motives  had  driven  Godfrey's  wife  forth  on  her  errand ; 
what  her  life  and  experience  had  been,  and  how  these  extenu- 
ated her  wrong-doing;  what  part  mere  chance  had  in  the 
entrance  of  the  child ;  what  memories  of  recent  and  remote 
events  drew  Silas  to  the  child ;  what  part  his  simple  and  super- 
stitious nature  had  in  the  event ;  what  point  the  story  has 
now  reached  in  its  development ;  what  skill  the  author  shows 
in  analyzing  mental  states,  and  in  giving  a  clear  picture. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  various  types  of 
literature  represented  in  the  ordinary  high  school  course. 
_  .  ,  Within  the  field  of  fiction  we  have  the  psycholog- 
Treatment.  jcal  novel  in  Silas  Marner,  the  historical  romance 
in  Ivanhoe,  and  the  novel  of  men  and  manners  closely  related 
to  the  essay  in  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield.  Each  of  these  types 
naturally  demands  a  somewhat  different  treatment.  In  the 
first,  the  interest  is  mainly  in  plot  and  its  relation  to  the  evolu- 
tion of  character ;  in  the  second  it  is  the  creation  of  an  inter- 
esting and  romantic  story,  wherein  appear  the  life  and  ideals  of 
a  vanished  age ;  in  the  third,  the  portrayal  of  a  group  of 
characters  with  the  sjmple  foibles  and  virtues  of  the  author, 
and  their  behaviour  in  adversity. 

It  is  well  to  have,  in  teaching  any  book,  some  large  aim 
Silas  Marner:  which  shall  be  coincident  with  the  author's  own  pur- 
its  Theme.  pose.  Such  an  aim  George  Eliot  has  given  in  Silas 
Marner.    In  the  quotation  prefixed  she  announces  her  theme  : 

"  A  child,  more  than  all  other  gifts 
That  earth  can  offer  to  declining  man, 
Brings  hope  with  it  and  forward  looking  thoughts." 

This  is  the  idea  exemplified  in  the  story,  and  in  its  skilful 
working  out  appear  the  excellent  structure,  genuine  feeling, 
and  real  insight  of  the  book. 


^  Many  of  the  college  entrance  requirements  texts  now  have  excellent 
lists  of  questions  suggestive  of  topics  and  points  of  view. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     263 

In  the  beginning  there  must  be  a  situation  of  hopelessness. 
This  is  brought  about  by  depriving  the  hero  at  one  blow  of 
his  friendship,  his  love,  and  his  religion.  That  he  may  lose  these 
he  is  made  simple  and  helpless  in  the  catastrophe  that  be- 
falls him.  That  he  may  continue  estranged  from  his  fel- 
low-men, he  is  placed  in  a  new  environment,  where  strangers 
are  rare,  where  both  his  appearance  and  his  craft  seem 
strange,  and  where  even  the  forms  of  religion  are  unintel- 
ligible to  him.  Here  his  estrangement  is  at  once  fixed 
by  his  growing  love  of  gold,  even  while  we  see  that  the 
heart  of  the  man  is  sound  because  he  still  has  need  of 
something  to  love.  When  the  time  draws  near  for  his  regen- 
eration, he  is  first  deprived  of  his  gold,  and  then  given  the 
child  to  love  under  circumstances  which  link  it  peculiarly  with 
his  love  for  his  gold  and  with  the  tenderest  memories  of  his 
own  childhood.  From  this  point  on  the  story  concerns  itself 
with  the  gradual  reunion  of  Silas  with  his  fellow-men,  in  the 
resumption  of  the  right  and  normal  relations  through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  child. 

The  secondary  plot,  the  story  of  the  Cass  family,  is  made  to 
touch  the  main  story  in  a  natural  and  effective  way  for  devel- 
oping the  character  of  Silas  :  in  the  theft  of  the  subordinate 
money,  in  the  appearance  of  the  child,  and  finally  ^*^^- 
in  the  opportunity  given  to  Eppie  to  reward  her  foster-father's 
love.  While  subordinate  to  the  main  plot,  the  story  of  the 
house  of  Cass  has  also  its  own  meaning  and  purpose.  The 
episodes  which  reveal  the  simple  community  life,  though  brief 
and  infrequent,  are  worth  study  for  their  humorous  sympathy, 
their  skilful  portrayal  of  character,  and  their  representation  of 
simple  rustic  life. 

The  personality  of  the  author  as  expressed  in  her  sympathies 
and  interests  is  easily  to  be  seen.  She  touches  the  ignorance 
and  prejudices  of  these  rustic  folk  with  a  broad  and 
kindly  spirit,  whether  dealing  with  their  foibles  or  pohitsof*"'^ 
their  untutored  religious  beliefs ;  she  is  deeply  ^^^^' 
interested  in  the  problems  of  right  living,  and  in  showing  not 
only  the  relation  between  the  characters  and   their  environ- 


264      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

ment,  but  also  their  development  under  these  influences ;  her 
method  is  not  only  to  present,  but  to  explain ;  and  her  atti- 
tude towards  the  life  she  presents  includes  those  of  both  the 
artist  and  the  philosophical  thinker.  In  these  things  she  was 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  with  its  scientific  interests  and  its 
social  and  humanitarian  sympathies.^ 

The  historical  romance,  represented  in  the  curriculum  in 
Ivanhoe  and  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  has  been  justly  re- 
The  Historical  girded  as  a  type  of  special  importance.  This 
Romance.  importance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  types  to  the  juvenile  mind,  and  to  the  relation- 
ship between  it  and  the  more  exact  subject  of  history. 

1.  Its  interest  for  young  people  lies  in  its  strong  action, 
"high  speeches,"  and  strenuous  ideals,  and  in  part  in  the  im- 
pression it  is  able  to  create  of  being  a  "  true  story."  Reaching, 
as  it  does  in  the  best  instances,  the  higher  standards  of  art,  it 
is  therefore  one  of  the  best  means  of  cultivating  a  genuine  love 
of  reading,  and  as  such  should  not  only  hold  a  place  in  the 
curriculum,  but  should  be  made  the  definite  starting-point  for 
further  incursions  into  the  field  of  historical  fiction,  whether 
prose  or  poetry.  The  ballad,  the  battle  lyric,  the  metrical 
romance,  and  the  epic  can  be  shown  to  be  artistic  presentations 
of  ideas  and  feelings  that  have  their  ultimate  roots  in  or  have 
clustered  round  some  definite  historical  experience,  and  there- 
fore to  have  a  kind  of  obvious  reality. 

2.  Its  relationship  to  history  is  frequently  alleged  as  the 
ground  upon  which  to  base  the  teaching  of  the  historical  novel. 
It  is  argued  (i)  that  it  will  impart  many  valuable  historical 
ideas,  (2)  that  it  will  incite  to  further  historical  study  and  in- 
vestigation. Counter  arguments  are  also  made  to  the  effect 
(i)  that  it  is  utterly  unreliable  as  history,^  and  is  therefore  not 


1  One  of  the  best  studies  of  George  Eliot  is  by  Frederic  Harrison,  in 
Early  Victorian  Literature,  London  and  New  York,  1S95;  printed  also  in 
the  Forum,  vol.  xx. 

2  See  Freeman's  Methods  of  Historical  Study,  New  York,  1886,  and  his 
Norman  Conquest,  New  York,  iSSo,  for  an  opinion  on  the  historicity  of 
Iva?ihoe. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     265 

only  worthless  but  injurious,  because  it  presents  the  false  ideas 
so  attractively,  and  (2)  that  the  pupil  is  more  likely  to  rest 
content  with  the  fascinating  falsehood  than  to  go  in  search  of 
the  dry  truth.  Amid  such  conflicting  opinions  the  truth  is 
not  easy  to  discover.  It  may,  however,  be  maintained  (i) 
that  much  of  the  matter  in  good  historical  novels  is  true  history, 
though  mingled  with  error,  (2)  that  history  is  thereby  rendered 
more  attractive  because  it  is  interpreted  and  made  more  human, 
and  (3)  that  pupils  will  sometimes  be  incited  by  the  historical 
novel  to  a  further  reading  of  history. 

But  all  this  discussion  seems  to  me  to  miss  the  main  point. 
The  historical  novel  is  literature,  and  as  literature  it  is  to  be 
judged  and  taught.  Like  all  other  literature,  its  fundamental 
interest  is  in  human  experience,  its  fundamental  purpose  to 
present  human  experience  in  an  attractive,  coherent,  convinc- 
ing manner,  and  to  keep  itself  true  to  human  nature.  The 
mixture  of  dates  in  Shakspere's  Kitig  Henjy  the  Eighth  ^  does 
invalidate  the  play  as  history,  but  does  not  impair  its  truth  as  a 
presentation  of  human  character.  The  story  is  worked  out  with 
a  verisimilitude  of  fact  and  a  truth  to  human  nature  which  are 
of  a  high  order  of  art.  The  whole  question  must  be  carried 
back  to  the  time-honoured  distinction  between  historic  and  po- 
etic truth.-  As  Aristotle  pointed  out,  the  poet  —  and  the 
plea  includes  the  novelist  —  is  not  concerned  so  much  with  a 
true  record  of  fact  as  with  a  presentation  of  human  life  that 
shall  be  true  in  that  it  faithfully  represents  human  nature.  It 
is  the  old  distinction  between  fact  and  truth,  between  the  real 
and  the  ideal. 

It  must  be  granted,  however,  that  the  novelist  who  chooses 
a  historical  field  thereby  conditions  his  freedom.  While  he 
gains  in  interest  by  selecting  what  is  already  known   to  his 


^  See  the  list  of  misplaced  events  given  in  the  notes  of  the  Rolfe  edition, 
New  York,  1S94. 

2  See  Butcher's  Aristotle's  Theory  of  Poetry  and  Fine  Art,  London  and 
New  York,  1S96;  Mallock's  "The  Relation  of  Art  to  Truth,"  Forum, 
IX.  36,  and  Paul  Leicester  Ford's  "  The  Historical  Novel,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  December,  1897. 


266      EXGLISH  IX  SECOXDARY  EDUCATION 

readers,  and  in  apparent  truth  by  keeping  within  the  range  of 
known  historical  facts,  he  runs  the  risk  of  forfeiting  our  beUef 
by  distortion  of  facts  with  which  we  are  famihar.  Anachro- 
nisms are  harmless  to  the  unlearned  or  in  unknown  fields ;  but 
they  are  disturbing  when  they  overturn  our  settled  and  familiar 
memories  ;  and  the  novelist  is  expected  to  convey  a  true  general 
impression  of  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  period  he  presents. 
Thus  the  necessity  of  historical  accuracy  in  fiction  is  seen  to 
be  in  a  certain  ratio  to  the  general  historical  information  of  the 
reader.  It  was  of  less  value  to  Shakspere  than  to  Scott,  and  of 
less  value  to  Scott  than  to  any  one  of  the  present  generation  of 
historical  romancers. 

If  the  foregoing  arguments  are  valid,  we  should  select  for  the 
curriculum  the  historical  novels  which  are  the  best  as  novels, 
and  treat  them  in  the  same  way  as  oLher  types  of  fictitious 
narrative.  The  impossibility  of  Cooper's  Red  Man  as  a  his- 
torical concept  is  perhaps  a  blemish,  but  the  truth  of  his  booVs 
to  the  spirit  of  pioneer  life  is  an  excellence  to  offset  many 
blemishes.  With  all  his  antiquarian  interests  and  achieve- 
ments,^ Scott  had  not  the  point  of  view  of  the  modern 
scientific  historian ;  but  he  had  a  spacious  imagination,  a 
capacious  and  well-filled  memory,  a  wholesome  spirit,  true 
insight  into  human  nature,  and  the  creative  powers  of  a 
great  artist. 

A  few  suggestions  may  be  permitted  here  as  to  the  treatment 
of  Ivanhoe.  In  structure  it  contains  a  few  great  scenes,  the 
intervals  between  these  filled  with  minor  incidents 
leading  up  to  or  growing  out  of  the  larger  scenes ; 
where  it  is  merely  episodic,  there  is  sufficient  interest  in  the 
episodes  to  justify  their  presence.  It  is  full  of  detailed  repro- 
duction of  a  vanished  age,  with  its  customs,  manners,  and 
ideals.  Its  characters  are  diverse,  often  strongly  drawn,  but 
unequal  in  treatment,  the  more  chivalrous  types  being  gener- 


^  The  introductions  to  his  novels  show  that  Scott  constantly  strove  to 
present  life  either  as  he  believed  it  to  have  been  in  history  or  as  he  saw 
it  in  his  own  time. 


EXGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     267 

ally  inferior  in  \dvidness  to  the  wicked  or  the  homely.  Its 
action  is  free  and  varied,  its  spirit  romantic,  its  tone  as  whole- 
some as  the  forest  air  breathed  by  Robin  Hood  and  his  band, 
though  it  has  no  ethical  purpose,  and  can  hardly  be  said  to 
have  any  definite  theme.  It  is,  above  all  things,  a  story  told  in 
a  succession  of  interesting  pictures.  These  considerations 
should  determine  its  treatment.  Collateral  reading  of  other 
tales  of  chivalry,  information  upon  points  relating  to  interest- 
ing customs  and  ideas  here  presented,  and  pictures  to  help  in 
realizing  the  ideas,  will  often  be  of  value.  But  it  is  not  to  be 
studied  minutely :  nothing  of  Scott's  is.  It  is  to  be  read, 
imagined,  enjoyed.  Its  diction  and  its  structure  are  possibly 
the  only  things  that  require  any  study ;  and  these  are  not  diffi- 
cult. The  book  will  be  of  most  value  if  the  teacher  can  come 
to  know  its  qualities  more  fully  than  we  have  outlined  them, 
and  bring  the  class  to  know  the  story  well  and  to  enter  into 
its  spirit. 

The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  differs  widely  in  type  from  the 
books  just  discussed.  With  adults  it  is  almost  safe  to  say 
that  enjoyment  of  this  classic  is  a  test  of  a  culti-  The  Vicar  of 
vated  mind,  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  sure  to  please  Wakefield. 
boys  and  girls.  It  presupposes  a  mellowness  of  judgment  and 
a  fulness  of  experience  which  few  young  minds  can  of  them- 
selves reach  by  imaginative  sympathy.  \  Its  theme,  similar  to 
that  of  the  Book  of  Job,  is  clear  enough  and  interesting  enough, 
but  so  badly  developed,  so  full  of  improbabilities  and  cheap 
devices  of  plot  that  it  wins  scant  respect  from  young  readers. 
Its  frequent  essay-like  digressions  render  it  tedious  to  them ; 
an  1  its  philosophy  of  life  is  somewhat  too  mild  and  simple  for 
their  crude  taste.  And  yet  the  book  may  be  successfully 
taught.  It  is  recommended  that  in  this  one  instance  the 
teacher  begin  with  the  biography  of  the  author.  The  lives  of 
Goldsmith  written  by  Irving,  William  Black,^  and  Austin  Dob- 
son^  should  first  be  well  known  by  the  teacher ;  then  such 


1  English  Men  of  Letters  Series,  London  and  New  York. 

2  Great  Writers  Series,  London. 


268      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

gleanings  regarding  Goldsmith  as  may  be  found  in  Boswell  and 
other  contemporary  sources.  To  this  let  him  add  a  fair  knowl- 
edge of  the  contemporary  literary  history,  a  familiarity  with 
the  best  Goldsmith  criticism,  and  a  love  of  this  gentle-spirited 
classic,  and  he  should  be  ready  for  his  work.  If  he  begins  by 
telling  the  class  about  the  author,  persojialia  being  here  the 
things  of  prime  importance  and  rich  enough  in  themselves  to 
occupy  an  entire  lesson,  and  then  explains  to  the  class  that  the 
book  is  not  to  be  read  for  its  plot,  but  for  its  reflection  of  the 
man  Goldsmith,  for  its  quiet,  mellow  humour,  its  portrayal  of 
simple  domestic  virtues,  and  its  subtle  shadings  of  character,  he 
will  have  removed  from  the  path  of  the  class  the  principal 
stumbling-block.  These  things  should  be  kept  in  mind 
throughout  the  reading  of  the  book,  and  recalled  and  reinforced 
as  they  are  suggested  in  the  course  of  the  work.  Like  most 
works  touched  with  humour,  it  is  shy  of  the  analytic  spirit,  and 
yields  most  pleasure  when  it  is  read  aloud. 

There  are  certain  facts  of  literary  history  connected  with 
the  book  which  should  be  noticed.  It  stands  between  the 
completely  developed  novel  and  the  essay,  which  is  one  of  the 
literary  forms  out  of  which  the  modern  novel  emerged.  It  be- 
longs also  in  the  long  series  of  pastoral  literature  beginning  with 
Theocritus  and  extending  its  influence  to  our  own  day ;  and  like 
all  pastoral  literature  celebrates  the  virtues  that  are  supposed 
to  flourish  in  a  life  of  simplicity.  It  stands  about  midway  in 
the  romantic  revival  which  began  in  the  first  half  and  culmi- 
nated in  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  reflects  many 
of  the  features  common  to  that  revival :  tenderness,  kindly 
humour,  and  sympathy  with  lowly  life. 

Midway    between   the   novel  and   the  essay  stand  llie  De 
Coverley   Papers,  easily   the  most    famous   examples  of  peri- 
odical literature  in  the  English  language.     Without 
The  -J     <j 

De  Coverley  the  help  of  a  good  teacher,  they  may  seem  dull  to 
the  pupils ;  with  such  help  they  are  very  interest- 
ing. They  furnish  such  a  transcript  of  the  life  of  the  period 
that  historians  draw  freely  upon  them.  Reinforced  by  other 
numbers    of  The   Spectator  and  by  references  to    the  social 


ENGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     269 

life  of  the  period  in  other  sources/  the  book  becomes  an 
attractive  medium  of  entrance  to  this  interesting  period  of 
history ;  its  poUtical  interests,  its  coffee-houses,  theatres  and 
pleasure  gardens,  its  rough  sports,  its  exaggerated  fashions,  its 
frank  interest  in  the  things  of  this  world,  move  vividly  before 
us.  No  less  interesting  are  these  remarkable  papers  for  their 
place  in  the  development  of  literary  types.  In  the  midst  of  a 
large  body  of  satirical  and  didactic  literature  they  are  conspic- 
uous, not  only  for  their  impersonality  and  urbanity  of  tone,  but 
for  their  rare  success  in  winning  large  popularity  among  the 
very  readers  whose  follies  and  vices  they  hold  up  to  pleasant 
ridicule.  As  the  beginning  of  the  modern  novel,  we  note  the 
interest  in  contemporary  life,  the  rudimentary  plot  in  the  club 
as  a  centre  for  the  characters,  the  presentation  of  types  of 
character,  and  especially  the  fine  poetic  idealization  of  the 
good  Sir  Roger.^  It  is  not  a  book  for  minute  study,  but  rather 
for  that  easier  kind  of  reading  in  which  one  notes  the  graces  of 
style  and  character,  while  he  sees  another  type  of  civilization 
than  his  own  paraded  before  him  as  an  interesting  spectacle. 

The  essays  in  the  college  entrance  requirement  list  are   of 
the  biographical  and   critical  type  now  rare  in  our  contem- 
porary literature  of  criticism,  but  of  considerable   _.    _^ 
interest  historically.     The  two  of -Macaulay  ^  deal 
with  the  life  and  work  of  men  who  are  otherwise  represented 
in  the  same  list.     Obviously  there  is  good  reason  for  reading 


1  See  especially  John  Ashton's  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne, 
W.  C,  Sydney's  England  and  the  English  in  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
Traill's  Social  England,  IV.,  Frances  Burney's  Evelina,  and  Green's 
History  of  the  English  People. 

"^  See  Cross,  The  Dr^elopment  of  the  English  iVozrl,  New  York,  1900, 
and  Walter  Raleigh's  The  English  A'oz'el,  New  York,  1S95. 

3  The  essays  on  Milton  and  Addison.  The  essay  on  Johnson  has  re- 
cently been  substituted  for  the  former.  The  wisdom  of  this  substitution 
I  am  inclined  to  doubt.  The  historical  interest,  the  lifelike  pictures  of 
the  Puritans  and  the  Cavaliers,  and  the  clear  argument  in  the  former  are 
not  equalled  bv  anything  in  the  latter.  The  main  ground  of  objection  to 
the  essay  on  Milton,  its  false  theory  of  poetry,  can  easily  be  removed  by 
any  teacher  who  knows  his  subject  well  enough  to  make  an  appeal  to 
the  facts. 


270      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

them  not  too  remotely  from  the  works  they  criticise.  What 
Macaulay  thinks  of  the  work  and  character  of  these  two  men 
will  be  our  principal  interest.  His  impressions  are  to  be 
clearly  understood  and  compared  with  those  already  formed 
by  the  class,  and,  it  may  be,  with  critical  judgments  found 
elsewhere.  His  estimate  of  the  man  as  apart  from  his  work 
and  as  expressed  in  his  work  is  to  be  clearly  grasped.  In 
fact,  in  these,  as  in  all  the  books,  understanding  the  co7itent  is 
the  first  and  most  important  thing. 

But  besides  the  content,  the  form  and  method  are  to  be 
somewhat  carefully  studied.  Each  essay  is  built  upon  a  clear 
Macaulav  P^^"?  easily  divisible  into  large  sections,  and  these 
sections  again  into  smaller  topics.  The  transi- 
tions between  them  are  clear  and  natural.  The  minor  units, 
paragraph  and  sentence,  are  also  to  be  considered.  The 
topics  or  topic-sentences  of  paragraphs  should  be  found ; 
the  method  of  clear  and  orderly  development,  usually  from 
the  general  to  the  particular,  from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete, 
by  which  Macaulay  makes  his  paragraphs  not  merely  units  but 
pictures,  should  be  noted.  His  frequent  use  of  the  antithesis, 
his  terseness  of  sentence  structure,  and  other  obvious  qualities 
of  his  style  should  be  seen. 

But  the  study  of  style  has  its  dangers   in  the   secondary 

school.     It  is  not  of  much  interest  to  boys   and  girls,  and 

„^,  must  be  dealt  with  not   only  in   moderation  but, 

Style.  ^ 

above   all,   in   that   clear  and  rational  method  of 

study  which  avoids  meaningless  generalizations  and  cites 
definite  instances  within  the  comprehension  of  the  class.  If 
we  bear  in  mind  that  "  English  is  one  subject,"  we  shall  want 
to  make  prominent  always  the  value  of  this  or  that  point  of 
style  in  rendering  expression  effective.  In  the  present  dis- 
position to  rehabilitate  Alacaulay's  it  is  again  safe  to  reiterate 
that  he  is  one  of  the  very  best  authors  from  whom  to  learn 
to  write.  His  clearness,  his  lack  of  subtlety,  his  comparative 
uniformity  of  method  are,  pedagogically  speaking,  good  ;  and 
even  his  faults  are  of  that  obvious  kind  which  cannot  mislead 
the  master  or  do  injury  to  the  apprentice. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     2/1 

What  has  been  said  above  about  Macaulay's  essays  applies 

in  part  to  the  study  of  Carlyle's  Essay  on  Bums.     Here,  too, 

the  content  is  the  main  thins?,  and  familiarity  with 

,       ^   ,  .  .   .      ,  .  .  ,     Carlyle. 

some  of  the  work  of  the  poet  criticised  is  essential. 

Although  this  essay  does  not  afford  such  valuable  opportunities 

for  detailed  study,  the   study  of  the  structure  of  the  whole 

essay  and  of  the  paragraphs  will  naturally  be  made. 

Although  belonging  to  oratory  rather  than  to  the  essay, 
Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  will,  we  believe,  be  best  studied 
along  the  lines  indicated  above.  The  student  will 
need  to  know  the  history  involved,  and  to  note 
the  skilful  way  in  which  Burke  marshals  facts  and  arguments, 
anticipates  and  answers  objections,  and  reaches  the  feelings 
by  appealing  to  the  convictions  of  his  audience.  The  other 
essays  form  good  examples  through  which  to  make  clear  the 
principles  of  exposition ;  this  serves  to  illustrate  both  exposi- 
tion and  argument. 

In  general,  the  essay  is  not  an  attractive  form  of  literature 
to  young  readers.  But  a  plan  of  study  which  makes  it  yield 
ideas  can  secure  respect  for  it  and  go  far  towards  making  it 
agreeable.  In  fact,  though  the  essay  has  not  the  attractiveness 
of  a  poem  or  a  story  to  imaginative  children,  it  does  have  an 
obvious  intellectual  weight  and  definiteness  which  put  it  along- 
side the  serious  work  in  other  subjects  of  the  curriculum. 

To  many  good  teachers  of  English  the  teaching  of  poetry  is 
a  peculiar  pleasure,  to  others  a  peculiar  difficulty.  As  poetry 
is  more  condensed  than  prose,  more  allusive  and  The  Teaching 
indirect,  more  imaginative  and  more  dependent  °^  Poetry, 
upon  form,  it  is  harder  to  read,  and  therefore  affords  more 
opportunities  to  the  teacher ;  as  it  is  more  subtle,  more  in- 
tangible, more  in  the  realm  of  emotion  and  less  in  the  realm 
of  exact  intellectual  activities,  it  is  less  subject  to  treatment 
by  any  prescribed  method.  Of  course  we  know  that  it  is  to 
be  understood  and  appreciated.  But  the  mere  understanding 
of  it  is  so  bound  up  with  emotional  experiences,  that  explain- 
ing it  is  often  as  impossible  for  the  teacher  as  for  the  pupil : 
the  explanation  of  poetry  is  often  worse  than  the  explanation 


2/2      EXGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

of  humour.  ]\Iuch  of  the  pleasure  in  reading  poetry  comes  in 
the  perception  of  the  exquisite  blending  of  musical  .speech, 
beauty  of  picture  and  emotional  tone.  But  neither  this  nor 
any  other  summary  of  the  qualities  of  poetry  is  adequate. 
The  wide  range  of  effects  attained  can  be  known  only  by 
familiarity  with  good  poetry  and  good  interpretative  criticism. 
A  survey  of  the  many  good  editions  now  in  print  of  the  college 
entrance  books,  with  their  notes  and  questions  for  students 
and  teachers,  will  of  itself  convince  that  there  is  much  that  is 
both  definite  and  stimulating  to  be  done  in  the  study  of 
poetry.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  of  the  work,  there  are 
many  teachers  as  successful  in  the  interpretative  study  of 
poetry  in  the  classroom  as  are  the  critics  in  their  essays. 
The  task  of  the  teacher  is,  indeed,  not  essentially  different 
from  that  of  the  writer  of  interpretative  studies,  except  in  the 
methods  of  approach. 

Narrative  poems  demand  the  same  treatment  as  to  theme, 
structure,  character,  and  general  tone  as  do  prose  narratives. 
What  they  have  beyond  these  in  finish  of  expres- 
the  Ancient      sion  and  imaginative  glamour  may  also  be  felt  and 
Manner.  pointed  out.    Few  poems  present  all  these  qualities 

in  so  high  degree  as  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner.  Its 
theme  is  clear  and  definite,  its  structure  orderly  and  compact, 
its  finish  of  expression  almost  faultless,  and  the  imaginative 
glamour  almost  unique.  There  are  so  many  things  to  be  noted 
in  studying  it  that  there  is  danger  of  giving  it  too  much 
rather  than  too  little  time.  Some  of  the  most  obvious  things 
may  here  be  mentioned.  Its  style  is  like  the  ballads,  to 
which  form  it  is  akin  ;  swift  in  movement,  terse  in  expression, 
giving  few  but  suggestive  details,  so  that  it  requires  careful 
reading  and  an  alert  imagination.  Its  simplicity  of  language, 
its  richness  in  rhyme  effects,  its  perfection  of  rhythm,  and  its 
striking  use  of  repetitions  are  to  be  noted.  From  the  begin- 
ning the  presence  of  the  supernatural  in  its  theme  is  indicated 
in  the  manner  of  the  Mariner.  It  begins  and  ends  with  the 
wedding  feast  and  the  unwilling  auditor  as  an  every-day  back- 
ground, keeps  constantly  before  us  the  idea  of  the  Mariner's 


E.\GLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     273 

crime  in  the  violation  of  the  higher  law  of  kindliness/  and 
leads  us  on  into  the  story  as  worked  out  in  the  hero's  con- 
science not  only  by  his  sufferings  but  by  all  the  supernatural 
machinery  of  the  poem.  Its  climax  or  turning-point,  where 
the  Mariner's  hardness  of  heart  is  melted  and  he  can  love  any 
living  creature,  is  expressed  again  in  the  poet's  own  interpreta- 
tion of  his  tale,  — 

"  He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things,  both  great  and  small." 

There  are  three  things  in  the  poem  which  frequently  interfere 
with  the  enjoyment  of  it  by  young  readers  :   its  condensed 
style,  its  grisly  horrors,  and  its  impossible  setting.     The  first 
should  be    no  great  obstacle,  if  there  be  required  a  careful 
reading,  assisted  by   wise    and    skilful    suggestions  from   the 
teacher.     The  second  is  likely  to  loom  up  large  :  it  sometimes 
seems  that  the   poet  has  revelled  in   mere  horrors ;  but  the 
teacher  can   show  their  place  in  working  out  the   Mariner's 
change  of  heart,  and  their  fitness  in  a  tale  of  the  untravelled 
waste  of  sea,  around  which  superstitious  horrors  have  always 
gathered  ;  and  he  can  dwell  upon  the  many  passages  of  pure 
beauty  until  these  latter  overcome  the  others  in  the  pupil's- 
mind.     To  an  imaginative  child  the  third  point  offers  no  more, 
difficulty  than  the  usual  machinery  of  fairyland.     But  the  more, 
prosaic  type  »^  pupil  may  demand  some  reason  for  all  this  super- 
natural machinery.     He  must  be  brought  to  see  that  literature 
is  concerned  primarily,  not  with  the  natural  facts  of  external' 
nature,  but  with  the  experiences  of  the  human  soul ;  that  its 
claim  to  wide  liberty  in  dealing  with  the  material  world  has 
been  long  conceded  ;    and  that  in   the  present  instance  the 
subversion  of  the  laws  of  the  external  world  not  only  helps  to 
create  the  imaginative  glamour  which  is  one  of  the  charms  of 
the  poem,  but,  by  keeping  in  close  and  constant  parallel  with 
the  mental  experiences  of  the  Mariner,  serves  also  to  impress 
upon  us  the  emotions  that"  he  felt,  —  is,  in  brief,  an  artistic 


1  See,   for   example,   how   each  of   the  several  parts  closes  with   a 
reference  to  the  albatross. 

iS 


274      ENGLISH  IX  SECOXDARY  EDUCATION 

method  of  making  those  experiences  concrete  and  vivid.  The 
first  appeal  in  literature  is  usually  to  the  imagination  and  the 
emotions.  But  if  the  way  to  these  needs  to  be  prepared  by 
an  appeal  to  the  reason,  there  can  surely  be  no  objection  to 
such  an  approach. 

Among  the  difficult  books  to  teach  is  Tennyson's  The  Prin- 
cess.    Its    theme    not   only  lies  without   the   usual   range    of 

interests  of  secondary'  pupils,  but  often  seems  to 
The  Princess.      ,  i  •  r  j  ..u  •  --rx, 

them  a  mere  makmg  of  words  over  nothmg.      ine 

story  itself  is  so  overlaid  with  ornament  and  allusion  that  it  is 
not  easy  to  follow ;  and  the  mixture  of  ancient  and  modern, 
of  serious  and  burlesque,  taxes  their  patience.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  poem  is  so  permeated  with  the  thought  and  feeling 
of  the  nineteenth  century  that  it  can  be  brought  within  the 
comprehension  and  approval  of  most  pupils.  First,  the  story 
should  be  read  and  known  clearly.  Then  its  theme,  or  quest, 
and  the  author's  answer  to  the  problem  can  be  considered. 
After  this  the  art  of  the  poem  should  be  studied.  The  medley 
element,  consisting  not  merely  in  the  composite  manner  of 
narration,  but  also  in  its  mixture  of  ancient  and  modern,  of 
serious  and  absurd,  and  in  its  union  of  different  types  of  poetry, 
lyric,  romantic,  epic,  and  pastoral,^  can  be  shown  to  be  an 
appropriate  form  of  art  in  which  to  present  the  half-serious, 
half-absurd  problem  of  the  poem.  The  function  of  the  songs 
sung  by  the  women  in  the  interludes,  and  presenting  the 
ideals  of  love  of  men  and  women  and  their  love  for  child- 
hood, can  be  pointed  out,  and  their  lyric  beauty  be  felt  and 
remembered.  The  fitness  of  the  characters,  various  types 
clearly  drawn,  for  working  out  the  theme,  can  be  shown.  A 
forecast  of  the  form,  the  spirit,  and  the  material  is  seen  in 
the  prologue.  The  humour,  varying  from  keen  satire  to  the 
most  delicate  and  good-humoured  banter,  should  be  noted  ; 
and  the  prejudice  against  the  poem  which  girls  are  prone  to 
feel  on  this  account  be  removed  by  calling  their  attention  to 


1  See    the   song,   "  Come   down,    O    maid,    from    yonder    mountain 
height." 


ENGLISH  IX  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     275 

the  fact  that  neither  sex  escapes  the  banter,  and  that  the  cause 
of  women  is  really  treated  with  chivalrous  consideration.  The 
poem  is  rich  in  allusions  and  memories  of  other  literature  ;  so 
rich,  indeed,  that  only  a  part  of  its  wealth  can  be  appreciated 
by  young  readers.  It  is  rich  also  in  pictures,  "  the  purple 
patches  "  in  which  form,  colour,  and  sound  unite  in  composite 
effects  of  a  high  order.''  While  it  is  conceded  that  the  poem 
is  difficult  to  teach,  it  can  be  maintained  not  only  that  the 
poem  can  be  and  often  is  well  taught,  but  that  few  things  in 
the  curriculum  have  as  great  cultural  value  as  this  rich,  high- 
wrought,  beautiful  classic. 

The  minor  poems  of  Milton  which  appear  in  the  "  college 
entrance  list  "  are  L' Allegro,  II  Penseroso,  Lycidas,  and  Comus.'^ 
The  first  two  are  simple  in  theme,  and  of  obvious  Mjiton's 
unity  in  purpose  and  effect.  It  can  be  shown  how  Minor  Poems. 
the  mood  in  each  is  presented  simply  by  the  selection  of  appro- 
priate details ;  ^  how  the  two  poems  are  parallel  in  structure 
while  opposite  in  effect ;  and  how  each  of  them  reflects  Milton 
the  lover  of  books,  art,  and  nature  rather  than  Milton  the 
Puritan.  The  beauty  of  individual  passages  will  hardly  need 
to  be  pointed  out.  But  the  allusions  and  the  archaic  diction 
will  demand  some  serious  study  :  how  much,  the  teacher  must 
judge  for  each  class,  that  he  may  strike  the  right  mean  be- 
tween too  little  and  too  much. 

Lycidas  is  a  difficult  poem.  Its  unity  is  by  no  means 
apparent,  and  has  often  been  doubted  in  quarters  of  high 
authority ;  unity  of  tone  it  certainly  has  not.  Its 
diction  and  machiner}',  literary  and  conventional 
in  the  highest  degree,  are  the  descendants  of  a  long  line  of 
pastoral  poetry,  very  little  of  which  is  known  to  the  secondary 
pupil.  It  is  as  condensed  *  as  it  is  possible  for  good  English 
to  be,  and  neither  its  theme  nor  its  spirit  is  near  to  modern 


1  See  especially  the  closing  lines  in  Parts  II.  and  III. 

2  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  of  Milton's  great  sonnets  have  not 
been  included. 

3  See  Newman's  Aristotle's  Poetics,  New  York,  1894. 
*  See  Ruskin's  analysis,  cited  above,  p.  252. 


2/6      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

readers.  On  the  other  hand,  its  beauty  of  verse  and  picture 
catch  the  imagination  and  leave  a  sense  of  dignity  rarely  sur- 
passed ;  no  pupil  of  sensibility  can  regard  this  poem  with 
contempt.  To  be  understood  and  enjoyed  it  must  be  studied  ; 
its  pastoral  machinery  must  be  translated,  mentally  at  least, 
into  ordinary  and  modern  forms  of  thought,  until  the  words 
of  the  poem  come  to  convey  at  once  and  directly  to  the  reader 
the  ideas  that  Milton  had.  If  it  is  not  enjoyed  then,  the 
blame  rests  in  the  same  places  as  does  the  responsibility  for 
the  pupil's  mental  endowments  and  his  previous  training. 

Co?fius  is  equally  difficult :  its  high  and  impassioned  oratory 
and  imagery  are  condensed  and  philosophical ;  of  character 
and  action  it  has  little  or  none ;  its  theme  arouses 
™'^^'  no  special  interest.     Its  dignity  and  sonorousness 

of  diction,  and  a  certain  awesomenesc  in  its  general  tone,  the 
pupil  can  feel.  If  it  is  read  mainly  for  these  qualities,  and  as 
a  monument  of  a  vanished  form  of  art  standing  somewhere 
between  the  drama  and  the  opera,  it  is  more  likely  to  be 
appreciated  than  if  read  for  the  story  or  for  the  human 
interest.  Like  the  other  minor  poems  of  Milton  here  dis- 
cussed, it  should  certainly  leave  behind  it  a  respect  for  its 
beauty  and  intellectual  weight,  and  convince  the  pupil  that  the 
highest  pleasures  in  literature  are  not  to  be  had  without  the 
price  of  labor. 

A  drama  is  more  difficult  to  read  than  a  story.  Action, 
description,  and  motive  are  usually  given  directly  in  narrative 
writing ;  in  the  drama  they  are  given  indirectly  or 
left  to  the  reader's  inference.  The  form,  broken 
into  scenes  and  acts,  is  harder  to  imagine  as  a  unified  whole 
than  the  more  continuous  form  of  narrative.  In  general,  the 
teacher  will  have  to  see  to  it  that  the  pupil  understands 
the  characters  in  their  relation  to  the  action,  and  the  separate 
scenes  in  their  relation  to  the  whole  play. 

For  illustration  of  these  and  other  things  to  be  consid- 
ered in  the  drama,  the  following  topics  are  chosen  from 
Macbeth  •  — 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     2^7 

I .  The  source  of  the  story,  its  original  form,  and  its  modifi- 
cation in  Shakspere's  hands.  „..wh 

.....  ,    Macbetii. 

2.  The  opening  scenes,  giving  m  their  natural 

environment  and   in  the   introduction  of  the  Witches  a  sort 
of  keynote  to  the  play. 

3.  The  position  of  Macbeth,  the  promises  of  the  Witches, 
the  fulfilment  of  a  part  of  these  promises,  and  the  stirring  of 
more  ambitious  hopes  in  him. 

4.  The  evidences  for  and  against  the  belief  that  Macbeth 
had  conceived  the  murder  before  he  met  the  Witches;  the 
nature  and  degree  of  his  responsibility. 

5.  Lady  Macbeth's  part  in  inciting  him  to  the  crime;  her 
methods  and  her  motives. 

6.  The  descriptive  elements  attending  the  crime  :  means 
of  arousing  terror,  such  as  the  sounds  that  Macbeth  hears  in 
the  murder  scene  and  the  knocking  at  the  gate. 

7.  Macbeth's  character :  his  fears  of  the  uncertain  or 
unknown,  his  excitable  imagination,  the  nature  of  his  scruples, 
his  motives  ;  how  these  are  employed  later  in  leading  him  to 
his  destruction. 

8.  The  part  of  Banquo  in  the  first  and  second  acts. 

9.  The  change  in  Macbeth's  motives,  terror  added  to 
ambition ;  the  recklessness  with  which  he  plunges  into  crime 
on  his  own  initiative. 

10.    The  change  in  Lady  Macbeth. 

II.  The  banquet  scene:  how  prepared  for  in  preceding 
scenes,  how  made  effective,  its  part  in  determining  the  future 
of  Macbeth, 

12.  Macduff  as  the  leader  of  the  avenging  force.  Where 
he  first  appears  in  this  light,  and  his  actions  in  succeeding 
scenes. 

13.  Lady  Macbeth's  diminishing  prominence  in  the  play: 
her  break-down ;  the  sleep-walking  scene,  how  made  effective. 

14.  The  irony  or  Nemesis  in  the  play  :  how  it  is  shown  that 
Macbeth's  hopes  are  disappointed,  his  deeds  react  upon  him- 
self, and  his  troubles  spring  ultimately  from  what  was  in 
himself  at  the  beginning  of  the  play. 


278      EXGLISH  LV  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

15.  Macbeth  as  a  tragic  hero:  how  far  he  satisfies  the 
accepted  canons  of  dramatic  criticism. 

These  few  topics  out  of  many  that  might  be  suggested  will 
serve  to  illustrate  the  richness  of  the  drama  as  a  subject  of 
study.  Free  discussion,  taking  in  all  parts  of  the  play,  should 
be  encouraged.  It  is  most  essential  that  pupils  should  read 
carefully,  know  clearly  the  meanings  of  the  sentences,  and 
learn  to  bring  to  the  interpretation  of  one  part  of  the  play 
what  they  have  found  in  another.  In  the  drama  as  in  other 
forms  of  poetry,  the  beauties  of  individual  passages  should 
be  noted.  Some  of  the  speeches  of  Macbeth  are  proverbial 
for  their  high  order  of  imaginative  beauty. 

In  all  his  teaching  of  literature  the  problem  of  the  teacher 
begins,  not  with  questions  of  method,  but  with  matters  of  fact 
Qnestionsof  and  interpretation.  If  he  knows  his  literature 
Method.  ^gji^  critically  and  in  its  historical  relations,  and  if 

he  has  an  alert  and  sympathetic  type  of  mind,  he  has  the  best 
equipment  for  teaching  it.  But  there  are,  nevertheless,  certain 
questions  of  method  to  be  considered,  —  questions  which  rest 
in  part  upon  the  literature  chosen  and  in  part  upon  the  class  to 
be  taught.  The  principal  point  of  doubt  seems  to  be  with  re- 
gard to  the  amount  of  discussion  and  analytic  work.  Theories 
vary  from  a  belief  in  merely  reading  the  literature  aloud  in  the 
classroom  ^  to  the  advocacy  of  minute  and  searching  questions 
upon  every  detail  of  the  work.-  In  support  of  the  first  point 
of  view  it  is  often  argued  that  literature  appeals  through  the  ear 
to  the  emotions,  and  that  any  intellectual  treatment,  analytic  or 
otherwise,  kills  the  spirit  of  it.  The  advocates  of  the  second 
method  seem  to  assume  that  every  piece  of  good  literature  is 
a  perfect  work,  a  mosaic  in  which  every  word  and  idea  have  a 
definite  and  inevitable  function  which  analysis  will  reveal. 

From  both  these  extreme  views  I  dissent.  I  believe  that  in 
the  mere  reading  much  of  the  best  of  a  work  is  not  appre- 


^  See  Corson,  The  Aims  of  Literary  Study- 

2  See,  for  example,  Sherman's  Analytics  of  Literature,  Boston,  1^ 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     279 

hended ;  and  I  repose  my  belief  not  onl}'  on  experience,  but 
upon  the  endorsement  of  many  wise  men,  from  Bacon  down  to 
the  present  time.  I  dissent  also  from  the  theory  that  the  intel- 
lectual activities  necessarily  kill  emotion  and  destroy  aesthetic 
pleasure.  One  needs  only  note  the  enthusiasm  with  which  lovers 
of  music  and  painting  analyze  effects  and  the  means  of  pro- 
ducing them  to  see  the  inherent  unsoundness  of  this  general- 
ization. The  poets,  too,  have  often  been  the  best  critics, 
dwelling  with  interest  upon  the  details  of  their  own  and  others' 
work.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  large  part  of  aesthetic 
pleasure  proceeds  from  the  activity  of  a  trained  mind  :  the 
perception  of  symmetry  and  unity,  of  the  nice  adjustment  of 
means  to  ends,  and  of  the  fine  sense  of  fitness  between  the 
parts  of  a  work,  is  one  of  the  highest  rewards  of  the  study  of 
literature.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  sentimentalists  in 
the  world  of  letters  are  usually  formless  and  inchoate  in  their 
expression  ;  and  it  is  a  sentimental  or  an  indolent  mind  that 
will  not  deal  with  literature  on  any  other  footing  than  an  emo- 
tional one.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  there  are  some  things 
that  defy  analysis,  and  other  things  that  need  none  ;  there  are 
lyrics,  for  example,  whose  message  goes  straight  to  the  heart 
and  whose  beauty  eludes  study.  But  these  are  not  typical  of 
literature  in  general ;  most  of  it  is  best  enjoyed  when  it  satis- 
fies not  only  the  feelings  but  also  the  reason.  Few  living 
writers  have  a  more  unquestioned  rank  in  scholarship  and  taste 
than  Dr.  Furness,  the  Shaksperian  scholar.  His  opinion  on 
this  point  is  characteristic  and  interesting  :  ^  — 

"  We  read  our  Shakespeare  in  varying  moods.  Hours  there 
are,  and  they  come  to  all  of  us,  when  we  want  no  voice,  charm 
it  never  so  wisely,  to  break  in  upon  Shakespeare's  own  words. 
If  there  be  obscurity,  we  rather  like  it ;  if  the  meaning  be 
veiled,  we  prefer  it  veiled.  Let  the  words  flow  on  in  their  own 
sweet  cadence,  lulling  our  senses,  charming  our  ears,  and  let 
all  sharp  quillets  cease.     When  Amiens'  gentle  voice  sings  of 


1  Introduction   to   As    You   Like  It,  edited   by  Dr.   Horace  Howard 
Fumess,  Philadelphia,  1892. 


28o      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

the  winter  wind  that  '  its  tooth  is  not  so  keen  because  it  is  not 
seen,  '  who  of  us  ever  dreams,  until  wearisome  commentators 
gather  mumbling  around,  that  there  is  in  the  line  the  faintest 
flaw  in  'logical  sequence'?  But  this  idle,  receptive  mood 
does  not  last  forever.  The  time  comes  when  we  would  fain 
catch  every  ray  of  light  flashing  from  these  immortal  plays, 
and  pluck  the  heart  out  of  every  mystery  there ;  and,  then,  we 
listen  respectfully  and  gratefully  to  every  suggestion,  every 
passing  thought,  which  obscure  passages  have  stirred  and 
awakened  in  minds  far  finer  than  our  own.  Then  it  is  that  we 
welcome   every  aid  which  notes   can  supply." 

What  is  here  said  of  commentaries  on  Shakspere  applies 
to  the  careful  study  of  other  classics.  There  is  no  essential 
conflict  between  study  and  enjoyment  except  to  lazy  minds,  no 
essential  obstacle  to  study  except  in  dull  minds.  And  both  the 
dull  and  the  lazy  must  remain  without  the  gates  of  the  literary 
garden  of  the  Hesperides.  It  cannot  be  too  often  insisted 
that  the  "soft  education"  is  not  that  which  yields  most  profit, 
or,  indeed,  the  truest  pleasure  to  the  student.  Teachers  of 
literature  and  those  who  write  about  the  teaching  of  literature 
have  too  often  assumed  that  this  is  the  one  field  in  which 
young  students  cannot  be  expected  to  unite  work  and  pleas- 
ure ;  and  the  interesting  result  is  often  that  it  becomes  the  one 
field  of  work  which  they  do  not  respect.  It  is  held  that  the 
proof  of  this  is  that  an  examination  cannot  be  given  in  litera- 
ture. But  a  good  teacher  has  many  ways  of  finding  out  the 
pupils'  comprehension  and  appreciation  of  what  they  have 
read. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  degrees  and  kinds  of  analytic 
treatment  that  do  kill.  When  analysis  is  pushed  to  the  point 
of  finding  fifty  questions  to  ask  on  one  brief  scene  of  a  play, 
we  grow  weary,  and  are  ready  to  doubt  the  relevancy  of  the 
work.  Analytic  work  may  err  in  three  ways  :  (i)  It  may  go 
into  such  detail  as  to  be  tedious ;  (2)  it  may  assume  a  degree 
of  artistry  that  the  literature  does  not  possess  ;  (3)  it  may,  and 
often  does,  lead  to  untenable  conclusions  regarding  the  mean- 
ing and  effect  of  the  piece  of  literature  under  study,  forcing 
into   it  ideas  which   exist  only  in  the  mind  of  the  analyst. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     28  I 

What  to  discuss  and  where  to  stop  the  teacher  must  decide  : 
he  needs  not  only  a  knowledge  of  his  class,  but  sound  scholar- 
ship, good  taste,  and  good  sense,  to  save  him  from   mistakes. 
One  general  principle   seems  to  me   to  cover  all  such  study : 
the    analysis  that  reveals  to  the  pupil  new  meanings  within  i 
hi§  power   of  comprehension,    and    new   beauties    within  his    \ 
power  of  appreciation,  while  keeping  true  to  the    spirit  and    i 
tenor  of  the   literature    as   it   is   known  to   scholars,  —  such     i 
analysis  is  not  only  safe,  but   of  the   very  essence  of  good     1 
teaching. 

In  such  questioning  of  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  the  litera- 
ture as  is  here  recommended,  one  naturally  looks  —  though 
not  with  slavish  dependence  —  to  the  critics,  critical 
Most  teachers  of  literature  are  under  large  obliga-  ^^^^^^ 
tions  to  them.  It  is,  I  think,  worth  while  to  introduce  pupils 
to  such  sources  of  enlightenment  before  they  reach  the  college, 
—  not  to  many  such  works,  not  to  the  inferior  ones,  but  to 
a  few  of  the  best  criticisms  upon  books  which  the  pupils 
are  reading  or  have  read.  There  is  nothing  formidable 
about  these  writings,  nor  anything  essentially  different  in 
their  approach  to  literature  from  that  which  is  made  by 
the  good  teacher;  they,  too,  are  teachers  who  help  us  to 
see  more  meaning  and  more  beauty  in  what  we  read.  In 
general,  however,  they  should  be  read  after  the  classic  itself 
is  read. 

Literary  biography  is  uninteresting  to  young  people,  and  the 
reasons  therefor  have  already  been  stated.^  Exceptions  to 
this  are  generally  due  either  to  the  special  skill  of  Literary 
the  teacher  or  to  unusual  and,  we  may  say,  facti-  ^^"srap  es. 
tious  elements  in  the  author's  life  and  character.  The  even 
exterior  and  the  quiet  inward  activity  of  the  man  of  genius  do 
not  strike  the  imagination  of  the  boy.  In  such  instances  the 
part  that  is  of  most  significance,  the  relation  between  the 
man's  life  and  his  work,  can  seldom  be  grasped  except  by  a 
mature  and  cultivated  mind.     The  main  facts  of  the  lives  of 

1  See  p.  179. 


282      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

our  principal  authors  should  be  learned  in  the  high  school,  not 
so  much  for  immediate  as  for  future  use.  Every  man  of  even 
moderate  education  is  expected  to  be  able  to  place  Shakspere 
and  Dryden  and  Wordsworth.  And  yet,  if  we  were  fearlessly 
honest,  might  we  not  be  brought  to  admit  that  our  sensi- 
tiveness on  such  points  is  a  sign  not  of  the  value  of  the 
knowledge  so  much  as  of  a  certain  standard  of  mental 
"  respectability"? 

With  stronger  reasons  we  may  urge  the  importance  of  the 
study  in  the  high  school  of  the  general  history  of  English  liter- 
The  mstory  ^^"^^  °"  ^°^^^  ^'^^^  ^^  the  Atlantic.  It  is  not  an 
Literatmrl  attractive  subject  to  the  school  boy,  let  us  frankly 
admit.  But  in  its  general  outlines,  its  larger  move- 
ments, it  presents  a  development  of  thought  and  feeling  more 
or  less  evidently  connected  with  the  history  of  the  people,  and 
constituting  an  interesting  and  valuable  chapter  in  the  history 
of  human  thought.  Such  an  outline  should  be  more  than  a 
mere  skeleton.  It  should  be  based  upon  a  well-written  text- 
book, and  should  be  accompanied  with  enough  incursions  into 
the  principal  authors  to  get  some  sense  of  what  they  are  like. 
If  such  a  course  succeeds  in  making  the  pupil  feel  a  little 
more  at  home  in  the  great  body  of  our  literature,  and  leaves 
in  him  the  feeling  that  there  are  good  things  to  be  read  at  his 
later  leisure  all  along  the  line  between  Chaucer  and  Tennyson, 
it  will  have  more  than  justified  itself. 

Such  a  course  is  probably  best  given  after  the  reading  of  a 
number  of  the  classics  from  various  periods.  After  the  class 
has  read  some  of  Shakspere,  Milton,  Addison,  Goldsmith,  Cole- 
ridge, Wordsworth,  Scott,  and  Tennyson,  has  learned  about 
their  contemporaries  and  the  characteristics  of  contemporary 
literature,  a  general  survey  of  the  three  centuries  would  serve 
to  fix  in  his  mind  the  succession  of  great  men  and  great  liter- 
ary movements,  not  as  a  series  of  isolated  phenomena,  but  as  a 
continuous  development  and  an  expression  of  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  the  English  people. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION      283 

Part  m.  —  College  Entrance  Kequirements  in  English. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Report    of    the    Committee    of   Ten    on    Secondary   School    Studies. 

National  Educational  Association.     1S94.     Pp.  93-95- 
A  Summary  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Meetings  of  the  Conference  on 

Uniform   Entrance    Requirements  in  English.     1S94-1S99.     See   also 

the  Reports  of  the  Associations  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools 

of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland. 
R.  Jones.     College  Entrance  English.     University  of  the  State  of  New 

York.     Examination  Bulletin,  June,  1897. 
Report   of   Committee   on  College   Entrance    Requirements.     National 

Educational  Association.     July,  1S99.     Pp.  12-19. 
Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Composition  and  Rhetoric  to  the  Board  of 

Overseers  of  Harvard  College.     1S92 ;  April,  1S95;  June,  1S97.     For 

special  bibliography  of  the  discussion  aroused  by  these  reports,  see 
B.  A.  Hinsdale,  Teaching  the  Language-Arts,  p.  ix,  and  F.  N.  Scott, 

Contributions  to  Rhetorical  Theory,  IV.,  References  on  the  Teaching 

of  Rhetoric  and  Composition. 
English  in   the    Secondary    Schools.     A    Plan    for    Work   in    English 

adapted   to   the    Programmes   of  the   Committee   of    Ten.     Harvard 

University.     1S97. 
Twenty  Years   of   School   and   College   English.     Harvard  University. 

1S96. 
H.   A.   Beers.     Entrance   Requirements   in  English   at  Yale.     Educa- 

TioN.^L  Review,  III.  427. 

E.  L.   Godkin.      The    Illiteracy   of    American    Boys.      Educational 
Review,  XIII.  i. 

Suggestions  for  Teachers  and  Students,  in  the  editions  of  books  pre- 
scribed for  study  contained  in  Longmans'  English  Classics,  and  especially 

F.  B.  Gummere,  Merchant  of  Venice,  pp.  xlii-xlviii. 

The  question  now  arises,  In  what  particulars,  if  any,  should 
the  course  in  English  vary  from  the  general  form  described 
when  pupils  intend  to  continue  their  liberal  educa-  ^he  Present 
tion  beyond  the  high  school?  To  answer  this  status, 
question  properly  it  is  necessary,  first,  to  understand  the  present 
requirements  in  English  for  admission  to  colleges  in  the  United 
States.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  growth  of 
entrance  requirements  in  English,  and  to  the  part  which 
they  have  played  in  secondary  instruction  in  English.     Up  to 


284      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

about  1875  there  were  few  or  no  colleges  that  attempted 
to  test  candidates  in  this  subject.  By  1S85  an  entrance 
examination  was  already  firmly  established  at  Harvard  and 
at  several  other  institutions,  and  by  1890  the  practice  was 
widespread.-^ 

At  first  these  examinations  were  almost  invariably  conducted 
with  a  view  to  testing  grammatical  and  rhetorical  correctness  of 
expression,  but  about  1890  it  came  to  be  more  generally  desired 
that  they  should  also  test  to  some  extent  a  candidate's  acquaint- 
ance with  English  literature.  In  the  last  decade  of  the  century 
three  special  causes  led  to  a  widely  prevalent  feeling  that  the 
whole  question  of  entrance  examinations  in  English  should  be 
dealt  with  from  a  broader  and  more  scientific  point  of  view. 
First,  the  admirable  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  (1894) 
formulated,  with  marked  success,  the  whole  secondary  work  in 
English,  and  attempted  to  outline  the  essential  elements  of  a 
sound  entrance  examination  in  that  subject.  Second,  the 
Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Composition  and  Rhetoric  to  the 
Board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College  (1892-1897)  showed 
plainly  that  Harvard  at  least  was  apparently  asking  of  its  candi- 
dates a  greater  rhetorical  accuracy  than  could  ordinarily  be 
obtained.'^     Third,  the  preparatory  schools   were    completely 


1  See  W.  C.  Collar,  "Action  of  the  Colleges  upon  the  Schools," 
Educational  Review,  December,  1891. 

2  The  Harvard  Reports  were  unsatisfactory  in  several  respects. 
First,  the  committee  appointed  consisted  not  of  experts,  but  merely  of 
prominent  citizens  with  a  general  interest  in  education.  Second,  the 
methods  of  procedure  were  unscientific,  and  the  results,  though 
suggestive,  far  from  definitive.  Third,  the  intent  of  the  reports  seemed 
to  throw  the  burden  of  blame  upon  the  preparatory  schools,  though, 
as  the  college  had  been  admitting  in  large  numbers  boys  whose  training 
was  thus  shown  to  be  grossly  defective,  it  would  logically  appear  that 
the  fault,  as  well  as  the  remed\',  lay  largely  with  the  college  authorities. 
The  reports  were  useful,  however,  in  stimulating  the  schools  to  renewed 
efforts  in  raising  the  college  standard  and  in  bringing  about  a  more 
general  discussion  of  the  question.  The  most  interesting  point  involved, 
in  our  opinion,  was  the  alleged  illiteracy  of  American  youth  as  compared 
with  those  of  other  nations  and  with  American  youth  of  a  generation  or 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     285 

bewildered  by  the  diverse  requirements  of  the  different  colleges, 
some  of  which  demanded  rhetorical  correctness  in  expression 
and  others  an  acquaintance  with  English  literature,  and  all  in 
different  degrees  and  on  the  basis  of  somewhat  different  sets 
of  prescribed  books.  At  this  juncture  the  Association  of 
Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and 
Maryland  appointed  a  committee  of  teachers  of  English  in 
various  schools  and  colleges,  to  bring  about  if  possible  a  uni- 
formity of  requirements  among  the  colleges  in  its  district. 
This  committee  wisely  suggested  to  other  similar  associations 
the  appointment  of  similar  committees,  and  met  in  conference 
with  them.  The  result  was  a  general  agreement  on  certain 
definite  and  uniform  regulations  for  entrance  examinations  in 
English,  which  were  subsequently  recommended  by  the  asso- 
ciations and  adopted  by  almost  all  the  colleges  in  the  United 
States. 

The    uniform   requirements   recommended  in  1894   by  the 
Conference,   and  now  in  general    use  throughout  the   United 

States,  consist  of  an  examination  in  composition 

.       .         .      r        .  T-i       r    .    •      Of  what  the 

and   an   exaramation   m   literature.       Ihe   first   is  Requirements 

based  on  a  list  of  about  ten  books,  prescribed  for 
"  reading  ;  "  the  second,  on  a  list  of  four  or  five  books,  prescribed 
for  "study."  The  first  examination,  that  in  composition,  may 
be  taken  at  the  end  of  the  third  high  school  year ;  the  second  is 
usually  taken  at  the  end  of  the  final  year.  The  Conference  has 
also  recommended  {a)  "that  in  connection  with  the  reading 
and  study  of  the  required  books  parallel  or  subsidiary  reading 
be  encouraged  ;  "  {b)  "  that  the  essentials  of  English  grammar, 
even  if  there  is  no  examination  in  that  subject,  be  not  neglected 
in  preparatory  study  ;  "  (<:)  that,  in  preparation  for  the  examina- 
tion in  composition,  "it  is  important  that  the  candidate  shall 
have  been  instructed  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  rhetoric ;  " 


two  ago.  The  question  of  illiteracy  is  the  real  kernel  of  the  whole 
matter.  It  is  apparently  capable  of  demonstration,  one  way  or  the 
other,  and  should  be  made  the  subject  of  systematic  research  by  compe- 
tent investigators. 


286      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

and  {d)  that,  in  connection  with  the  examination  oA  literature, 
"  the  candidate  may  be  required  to  answer  questions  invoking 
the  essentials  of  English  grammar,  and  questions  on  the  leading 
facts  in  the  periods  of  English  literary  history  to  which  the 
prescribed  works  belong."  In  brief,  then,  the  requirements 
prescribe  entrance  examinations  in  composition  and  hterature, 
and  recommend  the  reading  and  study  of  other  English  classics, 
and  instruction  in  grammar,  composition,  and  in  parts  of  the 
history  of  English  literature. 

The  Conference  did  not  intend,  however,  to  limit  the  course 
of  study  in  secondary  schools  to  the  mere  preparation  of  candi- 
dates on  a  list  of  specified  books,  as  is  shown  by  the  following 
supplementary  resolutions,  which  were  adopted  in  1897  :  — 

1.  That  English  be  studied  throughout  the  primar)'  and 
secondary  school  courses,  and,  when  possible,  for  at  least  three 
periods  a  week  during  the  four  years  of  the  high  school  course. 

2.  That  the  prescribed  books  be  regarded  as  a  basis  for  such 
wider  courses  of  English  study  as  the  schools  may  arrange  for 
themselves. 

3.  That,  where  careful  instruction  in  idiomatic  English  trans- 
lation is  not  given,  supplementary  work  to  secure  an  equivalent 
training  in  diction  and  in  sentence-structure  be  offered  through- 
out the  high  school  course. 

4.  That  a  certain  amount  of  outside  reading,  chiefly  of 
poetry,  fiction,  biography,  and  history,  be  encouraged  through- 
out the  entire  school  course. 

5.  That  definite  instruction  be  given  in  the  choice  of  words, 
in  the  structure  of  sentences  and  of  paragraphs,  and  in  the  simple 
forms  of  narration,  description,  exposition,  and  argument. 
Such  instruction  should  begin  early  in  the  high  school  course. 

6.  That  systematic  training  in  speaking  and  writing  English 
be  given  throughout  the  entire  school  course.  That,  in  the 
high  school,  subjects  for  compositions  be  taken  partly  from  the 
prescribed  books  and  partly  from  the  student's  own  thought 
and  experience. 

7.  That  each  of  the  books  prescribed  for  study  be  taught 
with  reference  to 

(iz)  The  language,  including  the  meaning  of  words  and 
sentences,  the  important  quaUties  of  style,  and  the  important 
allusions; 


ENGLISH  IN  SECdNDARY  EDUCATION     287 

ip)  The  plan  ofithe  work,  /.  e.,  its  structure  and  method  ; 

{c)  I'he  place  of  tli«  jvoi^in  literary  history,  the  circum- 
stances of  its  production, 'aq^he^life  of  its  author  ; 

{d)  That  all  details  be  studied','nCt^s  ends  in  themselves,  but 
as  means  to  a  comprehension  of  the  whole.  -n^ 

The  real  accomplishment  of  the  Conference  was  the  securing 
of  outward  uniformity.    As  to  the  substance  of  the  requirement, 
it  did  little  more  than  to  combine  the  method  for   o,,j.gj.yQj,g  ^^ 
which  Harvard  had  long  stood,  —  an  examination  tte^Require- 
in  composition,  —  with  the  new  method  which  Yale 
favoured,  —  an  examination  on  literature.     Objections  of  many 
kinds   have    been  brought  up  against  the  new  requirements. 
The  strongest  and  most  pertinent  are  the  following  :  — 

(1)  As  the  Conference  was  from  the  circumstances  of  its 
origin  rather  Eastern  than  national,  its  natural  tendency  was  to 
base  its  requirements  on  the  practice  of  the  large  Eastern 
colleges,  which  do  not  attempt  to  supervise  or  inspect  the 
work  of  their  candidates  throughout  the  whole  secondary  course, 
but  prefer  to  know  nothing  about  them  except  what  is  revealed 
by  written  examinations,  set  by  the  college  itself,  usually  at  the 
end  of  the  candidate's  course  of  preparation.  The  require- 
ments were,  therefore,  such  as  pertained  not  specifically  to  all 
the  secondary  course  in  English,  but  only  to  that  comparatively 
small  part  of  it  that  could  readily  be  used  as  a  basis  for  a  brief 
prehminary  or  final  examination.  The  large  majority  of 
American  colleges,  who  virtually  hold  no  entrance  examinations, 
and  who  aim  to  control  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  whole 
course  in  English  pursued  by  their  candidates,  could  raise  the 
just  objection  that  too  little  attention  had  been  paid  to  their 
special  needs. 

(2)  A  second  objection  concerns  the  fact  that  only  a  few 
books  are  prescribed  for  reading  and  study,  and  these  rigidly, 
without  possibility  of  substitution.  Here,  again,  it  was  the  ex- 
amination policy  that  guided  the  Conference.  It  would  be 
obviously  impracticable  or  inconvenient  to  examine  candidates 
on  books  from  a  larger  list,  within  the  time  conventionally  given 


288      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

to  such  tests,  or  to  allow  a  wide  option.  Following  its  premises, 
therefore,  the  Conference  chose  a  certain  number  of  definite 
books,  on  which  the  candidate  must  present  himself  for  ex- 
amination. It  thereby  went  counter  to  the  preferences  of  many 
schools,  who  would  have  wished  to  train  students  on  Coriolafius, 
for  example,  rather  than  on  Macbeth,  and  of  many  colleges 
who  would  have  wished,  for  various  reasons,  to  indicate  other 
masterpieces  as  a  basis  for  reading  and  study. 

(3)  A  third  objection,  raised  as  soon  as  the  uniform  argu- 
ments were  put  into  operation,  was  that,  though  outwardly  the 
requirements  were  practically  everywhere  the  same,  the  colleges, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  were  inclined  to  interpret  them  differently, 
and  to  relapse  into  their  former  diversity  of  practice.^ 

These  objections  to  the  policy  adopted  by  the  Conference 
seem  to  us,  on  the  whole,  just.  It  would  have  been  better  for 
The  Policy  the  cause  of  good  instruction  in  English  through- 
Weighed.  ^^^  ^^  country,  if  the  Conference,  instead  of 
formulating  a  set  of  requirements  for  use  in  one  or  two  very 
short  examinations,  could  have  marked  out  an  approved  course 
in  English,  which,  if  necessary,  could  lead  up  to  some  such 
examination  as  the  Conference  had  in  mind.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  Conference  had  no  power  to  prescribe 
such  a  course  of  study ;  that  it  is  highly  doubtful  whether  any 
considerable  number  of  colleges  would  have  been  willing  to 
agree  in  recommending  any  such  course  of  study ;  and,  finally, 
that  it  is  not  quite  possible  to  conceive  of  so  large  a  body  of 
men,  with  diverse  views  and  training,  as  composed  the  Con- 
ference, themselves  agreeing  on  any  such  course  of  study.  The 
time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  an  attempt  of  that  sort,  highly  desir- 
able though  it  is,  and  it  is  not  likely  to  be  ripe  until  there  has 
been  a  much  more  general  and  continued  discussion  of  fun- 
damental questions,  and  until  the  results  of  many  experiments 
now  being  made  can  be  more  clearly  estimated. 


1  See  Dr.   Richard  Jones's  interesting   pamphlet,   which,   however, 
greatly  exaggerates  the  diversity  of  practice. 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     289 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  the 
same  or  a  similar  conference  will  see  its  way  clear  to  formulate  a 
course  of  English  study  for  preparatory  schools,  which  will  be 
generally  adopted  throughout  the  country.  In  the  mean  time 
it  is  plain  (i)  that  the  spirit  of  the  requirement  already  leads 
ambitious  schools  to  establish  carefully  planned  courses  of  this 
sort,  which  aim  at  covering  more  than  the  mere  letter  of  the 
requirement ;  and  (2)  that  the  majority  of  colleges  are  already 
being  brought,  by  various  influences,  into  substantial  uniformity 
in  their  interpretation  of  the   requirement. 

The  actual  results  achieved  by  the  new  requirements  may, 
then,  be  said  to  be  in  the  main  satisfactory.  There  had  been 
two  prominent  parties  in  higher  English  instruc-  practical 
tion:  one  laid  much  stress  on  composition  as  a  Results, 
means  of  training  and  was  afraid  to  recommend  that  English 
literature  —  a  subject  which  demanded  such  learning  and 
cultivation  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  —  should  be  included  in 
the  preparatory  curriculum  ;  the  other  was  inclined  to  believe 
that  composition  was  a  proper  exercise  only  for  more  mature 
minds,  and  that  hterature  was  the  natural  and  fitting  subject 
for  school  training.  The  new  requirements  merged  these  two 
complementary  ideals,  and  saved  the  schools  the  long  con- 
flict of  opinion  that  might  otherwise  have  ensued.  The 
schools,  too,  were  stimulated  to  new  efforts.  Some  that  had 
virtually  paid  no  attention  to  English  as  a  preparatory  subject 
were  wiUing,  now  that  the  requirements  became  definite  and 
uniform,  to  give  a  considerable  amount  of  time  to  English 
study.  The  colleges  and  the  schools,  almost  for  the  first  time, 
felt  that  they  had  united  in  securing  a  desirable  reform.  Last 
and  most  important,  the  definiteness  and  comparative  perma- 
nency of  the  lists  of  prescribed  books  led  many  preparatory 
schools  to  draft  a  rough  course  in  English.  They  had  in  mind 
nothing  but  the  technical  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  ;  they 
attempted  nothing  but  the  mere  routine  reading  and  study  of 
the  little  list  of  prescribed  books.  Still  they  purposed  to  do 
this  systematically.    Such  courses  of  study  were  pitifully  meagre, 

19 


290      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

unphilosophic,  un-educational,  but  they  were  the  beginning  of 

better  things.     To  secure  any  regular  course  in  Enghsh  was  a 

great  triumph. 

Having  satisfied  ourselves  as  to  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 

new  entrance  requirements  in  EngUsh,  we  may  now  pass  to  a 

brief  consideration  of  their  relation  to  the  secondary 

Preparatory     course  in  English.     The  main  points  to  be  borne  in 
Englisli. 

mind  seem  to  be  these :  — 

(i)  The  preparatory  work  in  English  should  form  a  course  in 
itself,  extending  over  four  years,  with  a  time  allotment  of  at  least 
three  periods  a  week,  and  very  similar  to  the  system  of  English 
instruction  described  in  this  chapter.  The  mere  reading  and 
study  of  the  prescribed  books  will  form  scarcely  a  half  of  this 
work.  To  restrict  the  course  to  the  prescribed  books  and  to 
direct  preparation  for  the  examination  is  a  bad  policy.  It  goes 
counter  to  the  spirit  of  the  requirements  and  to  the  best  edu- 
cational thought  of  modern  times. 

(2)  It  is  generally  agreed  that  instruction  in  English  should 
be  identical  through  the  first  three  years  of  the  secondary 
course,  both  for  those  who  are  going  to  college  and  for  those 
who  are  not.  The  only  practical  objection  is  based  on  the  fact 
that,  if  this  be  the  case,  it  will  be  necessary,  during  the  second 
and  third  years,  to  provide  for  separate  instruction  on  the  books 
prescribed  for  reading,  or  else  to  force  students  who  are  not 
going  to  college  to  follow  the  Hne  of  reading  laid  down  in  the 
college  requirements.  There  could  be  no  plainer  illustration  of 
the  unfortunate  policy  necessarily  adopted  by  the  Conference. 
Still,  it  is  to  be  said  {a)  that  the  treatment  of  the  books  pre- 
scribed for  reading  requires  less  time  than  is  commonly  supposed, 
when  the  class  has  already  been  well  trained  in  several  branches 
of  English  study  ;  and  (3)  that  the  books  prescribed  are  almost 
invariably  such  as  may  be  used  without  difficulty  as  the  basis  of 
general  instruction. 

(3)  The  statement  is  also  commonly  made  that  in  the  fourth 
year  also  the  course  of  English  study  should  be  identical  for 
both  kinds  of  pupils,  but  here  there  is  room  for  a  wide  differ- 


ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     291 

ence  of  opinion.     My  own  judgment  is  that  pupils  closing  their 

scholastic  education  with  this  year  need  a  broader  or  more 

advanced  course  of  study  than  those  wlio  will  attend  college. 

The  latter  will  have  abundant  opportunities  for  more  training  in 

composition,  and  for  the  study  of  the  language  in   its  earlier 

forms  and  of  the  history  of  English  literature ;  the  former  are 

almost  invariably  barred  from  such  pursuits,  except  in  so  far  as 

they  follow  them  unaided.     It  seems  to  me  only  fair,  therefore, 

that  pupils  who  are  not  going  to  college  should  have  as  many 

opportunities  as  possible  of  the  kinds  mentioned. 

As  for  the  college  candidate,  he  has  during  his  last  year  many 

demands  to  satisfy  in  other  fields,  and  can  scarcely  be  expected 

to  devote  more  time  to  his  English  studies  than  he 

.  ,.  „      ,  Importance  to 

has  m  the  three  years  precedmg.     Furthermore,  he   the  College 
,  •  ,    1  r  .        ,  .        ,^    Candidate  of 

has  a  special  duty  to  perform  in  preparnig  himself,   the  "Study" 

with  great  care,  on  the  books  prescribed  for  study. 
In  the  larger  educational  organism  which  he  is  about  to  enter 
there  are  two  points  in  which  he  must  be  highly  proficient  if  he 
wishes  to  attain  success.  The  first  is  the  power  of  expressing 
himself  clearly ;  the  second  is  the  power  of  understanding  accu- 
rately and  thoroughly  what  he  reads.  The  work  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  years  of  the  high  school  should  have  started 
the  student  on  the  right  path  in  the  first  respect;  if  he  has 
passed  satisfactorily  his  preliminary  entrance  examination  in 
composition  {i.  e.,  on  the  books  prescribed  for  reading)  he  may 
turn  his  chief  attention  to  other  matters,  —  without,  however, 
allowing  his  newly  found  skill  in  composition  to  diminish.  It  is, 
therefore,  to  the  acquiring  of  the  power  of  accurate  understand- 
ing that  he  must  now  address  himself  with  assiduity  and  am- 
bition, and  it  is  precisely  this  training  that  the  books  prescribed 
for  study  are  best  adapted.  These  he  must  master,  one  by  one, 
—  their  language,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  their  content.  One  of 
the  first  tasks  set  him  in  college  will  be  the  reading  of  books  for 
the  sake  of  the  information  they  contain,  the  inferences  to  be 
drawn  from  that  information,  or  the  aesthetic  pleasure  or  mental 
training  derived  from  following  the  play  of  imagination  or  the 


292      ENGLISH  IN  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

logical  process  of  thought.  To  perform  this  high  function,  one 
of  the  greatest  to  be  performed  by  the  human  mind,  he  must 
have  had  a  full  and  sound  preparation.  He  must  know  how  to 
grapple  with  a  paragraph,  a  chapter,  a  whole  book,  and  to  make 
himself  lord  over  it.  No  ability  for  skimming,  for  mere  cursory 
reading,  will  avail.  He  must  know  accurately  the  meaning  and 
the  force  of  words,  and  how  to  find  them  out  when  he  does  not 
know  them.  He  must  be  familiar  with  English  syntax  and 
versification.  He  must  understand  ordinary  allusions,  and, 
again,  how  to  hunt  them  down  when  he  is  not  familiar  with  them. 
He  must  be  able  to  follow  a  line  of  thought ;  to  catch  the  bear- 
ing of  details  on  the  whole,  —  to  understand  "  what  it  is  all 
about."  Of  course,  all  this  is  not  learned  in  a  year.  His  train- 
ing in  it  began  years  ago ;  it  will  continue  for  years  still.  But 
this  is  the  year  which  should  focus  the  training  that  has  gone 
before  and  fit  him  worthily  to  receive  that  which  is  to  come. 
This  process  means  hard,  definite,  and  continued  drill  on  the 
books  prescribed  for  study.  It  will  at  times  not  be  a  pleasant 
task ;  it  will  shut  the  pupil  off  from  more  interesting  and 
more  superficial  study  with  his  classmates  who  are  not  going 
to  college,  but  it  will  prove  the  very  corner-stone  of  his  college 
work  in  English,  and  perhaps  of  his  college  work  in  all  subjects 
where  he  must  handle  books. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   COURSE    OF   STUDY 

I.  General  Principles 

In  framing  a  course  of  study  in  English  for  the  schools,  we 
must  consider  what  elements  are  most  suitable  and  necessary, 
and  in  what  order  those  elements  are  to  be  presented.  A 
solution  of  the  first  problem  has  been  attempted  in  Chap- 
ters II.  and  III.  of  this  book;  the  other,  though  already 
answered  in  part,  seems  to  need  a  fuller  discussion.  A  good 
course  of  study  in  any  subject  must  present  the  elements  of 
the  subject  in  a  well-recognized  and  justifiable  sequence. 
This  sequence  may  be  logical,  as  in  science  and  mathe- 
matics ;  or  it  may  be  chronological,  as  in  history ;  but  in 
any  case  it  must  present  the  data  to  be  learned  in  a 
series,  the  later  terms  of  which  shall  either  rest  upon  or 
include  the  earlier  terms.  It  must  proceed  from  the  known 
to  the  unknown,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  and, 
usually,  from  the  concrete  and  particular  to  the  abstract 
and  general. 

The  interest  in  the  study  of  English  has  brought  forth,  in 
the  published  reports  of  educational  conferences,  in  the 
reports  of  school  superintendents  and  of  normal  school  prin- 
cipals, in  the  books  on  the  teaching  of  English,  and  in  the 
articles  in  educational  periodicals,  many  interesting  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  order  and  arrangement  of  the  materials  to  be 
studied.  Among  these  published  opinions  may  be  found  con- 
siderable variety  in  the  materials  chosen,  their  order  in  the 
course,  and  their  relation  to  each  other.  The  main  diversity 
seems  to  lie  in  the  arrangement  of  the  material.  Upon  the 
fitness  of  certain  works  of  literature  for  educational  purposes, 


294  THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY 

and  upon  the  necessity  of  acquiring  certain  things  in  expres- 
sion, an  empirical  agreement  fairly  general  has  long  been 
reached.  When  we  come,  however,  to  the  arrangement  of 
this  material,  we  still  find  a  cc«isiderable  divergence;  a  diver- 
gence which  seems  to  indicate  a  fundamental  difference  in 
theories  of  language  instruction.  The  question  at  issue 
seems  to  be,  Can  the  vernacular  be  taught  in  the  elementary 
and  secondary  schools  by  a  logical,  or  at  least  a  highly  sys- 
tematized, arrangement  of  the  course  ?  A  high  school  course 
in  English  built  mainly  upon  this  principle  appears  in  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  College  Entrance  Requirements 
submitted  to  the  National  Educational  Association  in  i8gg. 
All  the  work  in  composition  and  literature  is  here  arranged 
by  years  in  conformity  to  the  rhetorical  divisions  of  literature 
into  narration,  description,  and  exposition.  In  the  fourth  year 
the  study  of  life  and  character  in  novels  and  poetry  and  a 
survey  of  the  history  of  English  literature  are  offered.  This 
arrangement  at  once  appeals  to  us  for  its  clearness  and  its 
suggestiveness.  But  a  little  reflection  raises  doubts.  Narra- 
tion and  description  have  a  trying  habit  of  taking  on  mixed 
forms,  and  of  assuming  varying  degrees  of  importance  in  the 
same  piece  of  literature.  Young  students,  moreover,  are  not 
interested  so  much  in  classifying  literature  as  in  knowing  it 
and  feeling  it ;  they  are  not  so  ready  to  discuss  the  technical 
distinctions  of  the  rhetorician  as  the  relation  of  the  literature 
to  life.  To  me,  the  rhetorical  basis  of  classification,  especially 
when  it  recommends  the  treatment  of  the  lyric  mainly  as  a 
form  of  exposition,  seems  wrong.  The  course  referred  to 
above  seems  best  precisely  where  it  breaks  away  from  its 
schematic  rhetorical  arrangement. 

If,  as  has  been  suggested,  we  arrange  the  work  according 
to  types  of  literary  form,  we  are  again  in  difficulty.  Some  of 
the  novels  ought  to  be  read  in  the  first  year  of  the  high 
school,  some  (like  TJie  Vicar  of  Wakefield)  not  earlier  than 
the  third ;  some  of  the  lyrics  are  good  for  the  primary  grades, 
some  for  the  fourth  year  of  the  high  school.    Julius  Ccesar 


THE  COURSE   OF  STUDY  295 

can  be  well  read  early  in  the  high  school  course,  Macbeth 
ought  to  be  reserved  for  the  last  year,  Gareth  and  Lynette 
and  The  Rirtie  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  can  win  an  audience 
anywhere  between  twelve  and  eighteen  years  of  age.  If  we 
attempt  to  fix  the  place  of  books  in  connection  with  other 
subjects  to  which  they  are  somehow  related,  we  only  increase 
our  perplexity.  For  the  authors  unhappily  did  not  foresee 
their  pedagogic  importance,  and  often  neglected  to  present 
their  theme  in  a  form  within  the  comprehension  of  the  appro- 
priate grade.  A  chronological  arrangement  of  the  books 
would  be  still  worse.  It  would  fail  in  many  points  to  bring 
in  the  works  when  they  could  be  best  appreciated,  and  they 
could  not  be  so  presented  to  young  pupils  as  to  lead  them  to 
see  the  historical  evolution  of  our  literature.  But  one  other 
principle  of  arrajigement  remains  to  be  considered  ;  and  that, 
fortunately,  is  the  order  now  generally  adopted,  the  order  of 
ease  and  interest, — the  line  of  least  resistance.  From  the 
first  primary  grade  to  the  end  of  the  high  school,  the  deter- 
mining thing  in  choosing  literature  for  the  pupils  should  be 
its  adaptability  to  their  interests,  their  powers,  and  their 
needs.  Wlien  this  is  attained,  but  not  before,  let  other 
claims  be  heard. 

It  would  be  poor  teaching  of  English,  indeed,  which  made 
no  reference  to  other  subjects  of  knowledge,  no  attempt  to 
classify  types  of  literature  and  methods  of  treatment  within 
the  same  type,  or  no  effort  to  give  a  sense  of  the  develop- 
ment of  our  literature  and  of  its  progressive  reflection  of  the 
ideas  and  feelings  of  our  race.  All  these  things  should  come 
in,  at  the  appropriate  time,  as  a  part  of  the  work.  But  they 
are  matters  of  instruction,  not  of  the  making  of  the  course  of 
study.  They  are  not  the  province  of  the  school  board  or  of 
the  superinterident ;  they  are  the  teacher's  own  peculiar 
domain.  They  cannot  be  given  in  an  orderly,  systematic 
fashion.  Order  and  system  may,  and  indeed  must,  be  at- 
tained. But  it  must  be  built  up  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  by 
teachers  in  whom  the  habit  of  erecting  a  symmetrical  struc- 


296  THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY 

ture  out  of  loose   and  unclassified  materials  is  a  confirmed 
mental  trait. 

In  the  fiield  of  expression  the  same  general  principles  hold 
good.  The  short,  the  simple,  the  concrete,  the  interesting, 
must  come  first.  We  must  pass  from  the  easy  to  the  difficult 
by  moderate  stages  and  by  frequent  iterations.  Certain 
things  must,  however,  have  an  early  place,  not  from  their 
interest,  but  from  their  necessity.  These  are  mainly  the  con- 
ventional and  arbitrary  matters  of  written  language,  which 
have  the  same  relation  to  later  work  as  do  the  first  attempts 
at  speech  in  the  nursery. 

II.  The  Elementary  Schools 

The  general  principles  underlying  the  English  work  in  the 
elementary  school  have  been  fully  discussed  in  Chapter  II., 
and  need  not  be  referred  to  here.  In  the  choice  of  the 
literature  for  these  grades  it  must  be  remembered  that 
interest  and  comprehension  run  side  by  side  to  a  much 
greater  extent  than  in  the  high  school.  Interest,  therefore, 
is  of  the  first  importance.  For  the  most  part,  such  interest 
can  be  held  only  by  stories  with  a  good  deal  of  action  and  by 
descriptions  at  once  lively  and  simple.  Fables,  fairy  stories, 
stories  of  child  life,  myths,  simple  narrative  and  descriptive 
poems,  and  very  easy  longer  works,  like  Hiawatha,  are  the 
appropriate  material  for  the  first  two  or  three  years.  For  the 
middle  years  of  the  course,  myths,  narratives  in  prose  and 
poetry  —  especially  of  the  heroic  type  —  biography  and  the 
brighter  essays  on  nature,  like  those  of  Burroughs,  are  the 
best.  For  the  last  two  years  the  reading  need  not  be  dif- 
ferent in  character  from  the  earlier  literature  read  in  the  high 
school.     The  only  difference  will  be  in  the  treatment  of  it. 

The  following  outline,  taken  from  the  Teachers  College 
Record,  Vol.  I.  No.  3  (May,  1900),  expresses  my  views  of  the 
language  work  appropriate  to  the  elementary  school  :  — 


THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY  297 

LANGUAGE  WORK   ARRANGED  IN   ORDER  OF 
SUBJECTS 

I.  Spelling. 

(I)  Grades!  i  and  2.     Imitative,  incidental  to  the  main  object  of 
learning  to  write  simple  sentences.      Phonetics  introduced 
to  give  the  elements  of  orthography  and  pronunciation. 
(II)  Grades  3-4.     Definite  work  in  spelling  as  subject  of  special 
study. 
Grade  3.      Diacritical   marks    taught.      Spelling-book    used. 
Words  learned  in  lists,  classified  according  to  form.     Ex- 
ceptions   noted.     Work   both    written   and   oral.      Special 
attention  to  errors  in  the  children's  written  work.     Effort 
made  to  cultivate  a  conscientious  accuracy  in  the  children, 
but  spelling  kept  subordinate  to  things  of  higher  value. 
Grade  4.     Same  plans  continued.     Definite  lessons  assigned. 
Use  of  spelling-book  continued.     Dictionary  used  by  the 
children. 
Grades  5-7.     Same  work  continued  in  more  advanced  form. 
(Ill)  Grade  8.     Children  made  to  understand  that  correct  spelling 
must  come  from  their  unaided  efforts. 

II.  Writing. 

(I)  Begun  in  Grade  i.  Imitative;  free,  large  movements  taught ; 
ideo-motor  activities  aroused.  Words  and  simple  sentences 
copied. 
(11)  Grades  2-7.  Definite  instruction  in  writing.  Aim,  —  to  cul- 
tivate (i)  freedom,  (2)  accuracy,  (3)  speed.  Work  culmi- 
nates in  Grades  5-7. 

III.  Arbitrary  Signs  and  Forms. 
(I)  Capitals. 

1.  Grades  1-3.     Beginning  of  sentences,  pronoun  I,  proper 

names ;    names    of    persons,    days    of   week,    months, 
streets;  lines  of  poetry,  direct  quotations,  etc. 

2.  Grade  4.     Review  of  previous  work ;   other  usages  not 

previously  given. 
(II)   Punctuation. 

1.  Grade  i.     Period   and    question-mark    at   the    end   of  a 

sentence. 

2.  Grade  2.     Period  after  abbreviation ;  apostrophe  in  ccm- 

tractions  and  in  possessive ;  comma  after  yes  and  no, 
and  with  names  of  persons  addressed. 


1  Here  and  elsewhere  in  this  book  the  grades  of  the  elementary  school  are  numbered 
from  the  first  year  in  school.  Thus,  grade  3  would  mean  the  third  year  in  school,  and 
would  designate  children  about  nine  years  of  age. 


298  THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY 

3.  Grade  3.      Quotation   marks   in    undivided   quotations; 

conventional  usages  in  letter-writing;  apostrophe  in 
possessive. 

4.  Grade  4.     Exclamation  marks ;   hyphen ;   apostrophe  in 

plural  possessives  ;  marks  in  divided  quotations. 

5.  Grade  5.     Review  of  work  of  Grades  3  and  4. 

6.  Grades  6-S.      Work   of   preceding   years,    with    special 

reference  to  the  logic  of  punctuation,  and  its  impor- 
tance in  establishing  unity  and  coherence.  In  Grades 
7  and  8  a  definite  scheme  of  rules  for  punctuation  may 
be  placed  in  the  children's  hands,  and  turned  to  critical 
use  by  giving  them  examples  to  punctuate. 

(III)  Letter-writing. 

1.  Grades  2-5.     Exercises  in  ^\t  forms  of  correspondence, 

and  in  familiar  letter-writing. 

2.  Grades  6  and  7.     Business  letters;  formal  and  informal 

correspondence. 

(IV)  Abbreviations. 

1.  Grade  2.     Mr.,    Mrs.,    Rev.,  Dr.,    St.,    Ave.,    names    of 

states,  names  of  months,  etc. 

2.  Grade  3.     Roman  numerals ;    familiar  titles,   as    Capt., 

Col.,  Gen.,  D.D.,  etc.     Common  contractions. 

3.  Grades  4-8.      Common  abbreviations     needed    by    the 

general  reader,  as  the  opportunity  arises  in  the  work 
of   the  school;   e.g.,  A.B.,  A.M.,  Anon.,  ibid.,  A.D., 
B.C.,  i.e.,  etc. 
(V)  Arrangement  of  titles  of  books  or  chapters,  indention  of  para- 
graphs, etc.,  Grades  2-4. 

IV.  Word  Study. 
(I)  Form. 

1.  Grades  1-4.     Recognition  of  known  words  in  print  and 

in  script.     Writing  and  pronunciation  of  such  words. 
Grades  2-4.      Diacritical    marks.      Spelling.      Frequent 
practice  in  writing  words  to  gain  facility. 

2.  Grades  3-8.     Use  of  dictionary  and  spelling-book.     (See 

also  under  I.  (II). )     Special  attention  to  prefixes  and 
suffixes,  and  analysis  of  familiar  compounds. 
(II)  Meanings. 

1.  Grades  i  and  2.     Given  by  teacher. 

2.  Grades  3-8.     Use  of  dictionaries.     See  above,  (I),  2. 

3.  Grades   2-4.      Extension   of   vocabulary,   by   literature, 

school  studies  and  conversation,  by  "  memory  gems," 
and  by  reproductions,  written  and  oral. 

4.  Grades  4-8.     Synonyms,  homonyms,  etymology  (given  as 

subsidiary),  study  of  things  well  said  in  simple  litera- 


THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY  299 

ture.  Literature  and  school  studies  treated  partly  as  a 
means  of  extending  the  vocabulary  with  the  increase 
in  range  and  accuracy  of  concepts.  Memory  work  in 
good  literature. 
5.  Grades  3-8.  Special  attention  given  to  idiomatic  forms 
of  expression. 

V.  Organization  of  Material. 

(I)  Whole  composition. 

1.  Grades  4-S.     Topical  outlines. 

2.  Grades  6-8.     Simpler  laws  of  description  and  narration. 

3.  Grades  7  and  8.     Instruction  in  gathering  and  arranging 

material. 
(II)  Paragraphs. 

1.  Grade  3.     Mechanical  form  and  simplest  division  taught. 

2.  Grades  4  and  5.     Elementary  principles  of  paragraphing 

taught  from  literature  and  applied  in  written  work. 

3.  Grades   6-8.      Principles   of   narrative   and   descriptive 

paragraphs  taught  as  above,  with  some  slight  refer- 
ence to  the  order  of  development  within  the  para- 
graph. 

4.  Grades  7  and  8.     The   paragraph   treated  as  a  basis  of 

composition.  Elementary  work  in  simple  development 
of  expository  writing  as  in  history  or  science  lessons. 
Expansion  of  sentence  into  paragraph ;  condensation 
of  paragraph  into  sentence. 

5.  Grades  4-8.     Pupils  trained  to  sustained  attention  and 

memory,  for  power  of  dealing  with  progressively  larger 
units  of  material.     Topical  recitations. 
(Ill)  Sentences. 

1.  Grades  1-3.     Good  sentence  form  taught  mainly  by  imi- 

tation and  empirically. 

2.  Grades  4-8.     Attention  to  form  of  sentence  for  euphony 

and  clearness,  in  the  literature  read,  and  in  the  writing 
of  the  pupils. 

3.  Grades  5-7.     Special  work  in  transformation  of  sentence 

elements. 

4.  Grades  6-8.     Study  of  sentence-structure  as  determined 

by  the  needs  of  emphasis,  unity,  and  logical  relation  ; 
enforced  in  Grades  7  and  8  by  correction  of  wrong  or 
ineffective  sentences. 

5.  Grades  4-8.     Attention  to  common  errors  in  expression. 

VI.  Subject-matter. 

1.  Grade  r.     Reproduction  of  simple  sentences  and  stories, 
mainly  oral. 


300  THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY 

2.  Grades  2  and  3.     Reproduction  of  stories,  picture  stories, 

"filling-in"  exercises,  letter-writing.  "  Memory  gems," 
school  lessons. 

3.  Grades  4  and  5.  Reproduction  of  reading  and  other 
lessons  ;  descriptions  of  pictures,  objects,  and  familiar 
scenes. 

4.  Grades  4-8.     Reproductions;   descriptions;   written  ac- 

counts of  things  seen  at  first  hand.     Letter-writing. 

5.  Grades  1-6.     Practice  in  dictation. 

VII.  Grammar. 

1.  Grades  2-4.     Possessives.     Empirically,  the  relation  be- 

tween verb  and  subject,  and  the  objective  pronoun 
forms. 

2.  Grades  5  and  6.     Nouns,  verbs,  and  simpler  modifying 

relations;  subsidiary  to  the  interpretation  of  the  read- 
ing and  to  the  composition  work. 

3.  Grades  7  and  8.      Systematic  study   of   grammar,    with 

text-book.  Grammar  viewed  throughout  as  a  study  of 
forms,  and  of  relations  of  thought.  Function  made 
the  basis  of  classification. 

VIII.  Criticism  of  Written  Work. 

1.  Grades  1-3,  direct  help  from  the  teacher,  aiming  to  give 

the  pupil  the  desire  to  do  things  well.  Criticism 
mainly  constructive.  In  Grade  3,  simple  symbols  used 
to  indicate  the  pupil's  most  common  errors. 

2.  Grades  4-8.     Definite  efforts   to   make   the   pupil   self- 

critical.  Symbols  of  correction  used,  increasing  in 
number  from  Grade  4  to  Grade  8,  demanding  of  the 
pupil  that  he  discover  and  rectify  his  mistakes  wherever 
this  can  be  enforced  without  discouraging  him.  At- 
tention given* to  the  gathering  and  organization  of 
material. 


III.  The  Secondary  Schools 

The  discussion  of  the  high  school  work  in  Chapter  III.  has 
included  full  details  as  to  the  order  and  kinds  of  instruction 
in  language.  Some  further  word  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
work  in  literature  seems  desirable. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  good  school  can,  by  giving  three  les- 
sons per  week  for  four  years  to  the  subject  of  English,  cover 
all  the  necessary  work  in  expression  and  include  much  more 


THE   COURSE   OF  STUDY  301 

reading  than  is  required  in  the  college  entrance  list.^  It  was, 
indeed,  expected  by  the  Conference  which  framed  the  list  that 
it  should  only  be  representative,  and  that,  while  these  books 
should  remain  as  the  basis  of  the  college  entrance  examina- 
tions, other  books  appropriately  selected  should  supplement 
and  round  out  the  course.  The  following  order  is  based 
mainly  upon  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  capacities  and  tastes 
of  typical  high  school  classes  :  — 

First  Year.  IvaJthoe,  and  two  or  three  of  the  following  of 
Scott's  novels :  Waverley,  Rob  Roy,  Anne  of  Geierstein,  Old 
Mortality  ;  Silas  Marner,  The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables,  The 
Last  of  the  Mohicans,  selections  from  Irving,  The  LUdy  of  the 
Lake,  The  interest  would  here  be  mainly  in  plot  and  char- 
acter, and  in  the  attitudes  towards  life  of  romantic  and  real- 
istic fiction.  It  is  especially  desirable  in  the  first  year  that 
the  number  of  types  presented  be  few,  and  fully  exemplified. 
*  Second  Year.  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal  and  other  selec- 
tions from  Lowell,  selections  from  Bryant  ^nd  Emerson,  and 
an  outline  history  of  American  Literature.  The  De  Coverley 
Papers,  and  selected  papers  from  The  Tatlcr  and  The  Specta- 
tor (with  especial  reference  to  their  historical  interest),  The 
Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  The  Idylls  of  the  King. 

Third  Year,  jfulius  Cczsar,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  As 
You  Like  It,  with  reference  to  the  plot,  the  character,  the 
essential  idea,  and  the  differences  between  tragedy  and 
comedy.  Irving's  Life  of  Goldsmith  and  The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field, Carlyle's  Essay  on  Burns  and  selected  poems  from 
Burns,  Macaulay's  Life  of  Johnsoti  and  Essay  on  Addison. 


1  The  list,  as  discussed  in  Chapter  III.,  is  that  which  is  at  present  in 
force.  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Conference  (1902)  certain  changes 
were  made.  Irving's  Life  of  Goldsmith  was  substituted  for  The  Vicar  of 
Wakefield,  and  Macaulay's  Z//^  ^/y(7/^;w^«  for  Macaulay's  Essay  on  Mil- 
ton, and  three  of  The  Idylls  of  the  King  (Launcelot  and  Elaine,  The  Pass- 
ing of  Arthur,  and  Gareth  and  Lynctte)  for  The  Princess.  The  Lady  of 
the  Lake  was  added  to  the  reading  list,  and  Macbeth  and  f alius  Caesar 
were  interchanged  in  their  positions  on  the  lists  for  reading  and  study 
respectively. 


302  THE    COURSE    OE  STUDY 

Fourth  Year.  Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation,  Milton's 
Minor  Poems  and  Books  I. -IV.  oi  Paradise  Lost,  Macaulay's 
Essay  on  Milton^  Tennyson's  The  Princess,  Macbeth.^  selected 
poems  from  Wordsworth,  Keats,  or  Browning,  the  Prologue 
to  Chaucer's  Cafiterbury  Tales.  An  outline  history  of  Eng- 
lish literature. 


II 

The  Teacher  and  his  Training 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   TRAINING  OF  THE   TEACHER 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  General  References : 

A.  Bain.     On  Teaching  English.     Longmans.     1887. 

Fred  Burk.     The   Training   of   Teachers.     Atlantic    Monthly, 

LXXX.  547- 
P.    Chubb.     The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Elementary  and  the 

Secondary  School.     Macmillan.     1902. 

A.  S.  Cook.  The  Teaching  of  English.  Atlantic  Monthly, 
LXXXVy.  710. 

B.  A.  Hinsdale.  Teaching  the  Language- Arts :  Speech,  Reading, 
Composition.     Appleton.     1896. 

S.    S.    Laurie.      Language    and    Linguistic  Method.     Cambridge, 

University  Press.     1890. 
D.  Salmon.     The  Art  of  Teaching.     Longmans.     1899. 
See  also  the  articles  of  Dr.  Samuel  Thurber  in  the  General  Bibliog- 
raphy at  the  close  of  this  book. 

II.  On  the  special  training  of  the  teacher  of  rhetoric  and  composition, 
see 

J.  P.  Genung.  The  Teacher's  Outfit  in  Rhetoric.  School  Re- 
view, IIL  405. 

S.  Thurber.  The  following  articles  :  Suggestions  of  English  Study 
for  Teachers  of  English,  The  [Syracuse]  Academy,V.  513  ;  Milder 
Suggestions  of  English  Study  for  Secondary  Teachers,  The  [Syra- 
cuse] Academy,  VI.  167 ;  Admonitions  as  to  the  Primary  Teach- 
ing of  English,  Boston,  1894;  The  Conditions  needed  for  the 
successful  Teaching  of  English  Composition,  School  Review, 
II.  13;  Five  Axioms  of  Composition  Teaching,  School  Review, 

V.  7. 

The  subject  is  treated  by  implication  in  most  of  the  books  and 
articles  listed  under  Rhetoric  and  Composition  in  the  General 
Bibliography  at  the  close  of  this  book. 

III.  On  special  training  for  the  teaching  of  grammar,  see 

F.  A.  Barbour.     The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar.     Ginn.     1901. 
O.   F.  Emerson.     The   Teaching   of   English   Grammar.     School 
Review,  V.  129. 

20 


306  THE    TRAINING   OF  THE    TEACHER 

S.  Thurber.     Suggestions  of  English  Study  for  Teachers  of  English. 

The  [Syracuse]  Academy,  V.  513. 

For  the  three  phases  of  language  study  recommended  to  teachers 
of  grammar,  see 

(a)    On  the  history  of  the  English  language : 
O.  F.  Emerson.     The  History  of  the  English  Language.     Macmillan. 

1895. 
H.  Sweet.     A   New  English   Grammar,   Logical    and    Historical. 

Clarendon  Press.     1892. 
L.  Kellner.     Historical  Outlines   of   English   Syntax.     Macmillan. 

1892. 
R.  Morris.     Historical  Outlines  of  English  Accidence.     Macmillan. 

1875. 

{b)    On  comparative  philology  : 
H.  Sweet.     The  History  of  Language.     Macmillan.     1900. 
O.  Jespersen.     Progress  in  Language.     Macmillan.     1894. 
H.  Paxil.     Principles  of  the  History  of  Language.     Macmillan.     1889. 
P.  Giles.     A  Short  Manual  of  Comparative  Philology  for  Classical 

Students.     Macmillan.     1895. 

(c)    On  the  psychology  of  speech  : 
E.   B.   Titchener.     A  Primer   of   Psychology.      Macmillan.      189S. 

See  Index  s.  v.  Gesture,  Language,  Word. 
J.  M.  Baldwin.     Mental  Development  in  the  Child  and  the  Race : 

Methods   and   Processes.      Second   Edition.     Macmillan.      1900. 

Pp.  409-475- 

J.   M.   Baldwin.     Social    and    Ethical   Interpretations    in    Mental 
Development.     Macmillan.     1897.     Chapter  IV. 

J.  Collins.     The  Genesis  and  Dissolution  of  the  Faculty  of  Speech. 
Macmillan.     1898. 
IV.     On  training  for  the  teaching  of  literature,  see 

H.  Corson.     The  Aims  of  Literary  Study.     Macmillan.     1895. 

J.  Churton  Collins.     The  Study  of  English  Literature.     Macmillan. 
1S91. 

A.  S.  Cook.     Preparation  for  the  Teaching  of  Secondary  English. 
JouRx.\L  OF  Pedagogy,  XI.  284. 

H.  C.  Beeching.     How  not  to  Teach  English  Liierature.     Long- 
mans' Magazine,  XXXVIII.  350. 

Brander  Matthews.     Suggestions  for  Teachers  of  American  Litera- 
ture.    EDUCATION.A.L  Review,  XXI.  11. 

Success  in  teaching  English,  as  in  teaching  any  other  subject 
in  the  curriculum,  depends  primarily  not  upon  training,  but 
upon  the  possession  of  a  special  talent.  The  teacher  who  has 
not  a  passion  and  an  aptitude  for  imparting  instruction  in  Eng- 
lish, who  does  not  feel  that  it  is  the  great  thing  in  Hfe  to  live 


THE   TRAINING   OF  THE   TEACHER         307 

for,  and  a  thing,  if  necessary,  to  die  for,  who  does  not  realize 
at  every  moment  of  his  classroom  work  that  he  is  performing 
the  special  function  for  which  he  was  foreordained   gp^^j^ 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  —  such  a  teacher  J^^^^y^ 
cannot  profit  gready  by  any  course  of  training,  how- 
ever ingeniously  devised  or  however  thoroughly  applied.     He 
lacks  the  one  thing  needful.     On  the  other  hand,  a  special 
talent  for  teaching  English  is  not  in  itself  a  guarantee  of  suc- 
cess.    Unaided,  it  will  soon  reach  its  limit.     It  cannot  attain 
to  its  highest   efficiency  without  submitting  itself  to  a  severe 
and  protracted  discipline. 

The  purpose  of  special  training  is  frequently  misunderstood. 
It  is  thought  to  be  for  the  sake  of  giving  the  teacher  expertness 
in  his  subject  and  a  knowledge  of  methods  of  teach-  ^■^^^  ixixa- 
ing.  In  a  sense  both  of  these  aims  are  right.  But  "*^'^^'^°- 
they  are  subordinate.  The  main  purpose  is  to  give  the  teacher, 
not  knowledge  of  his  subject,  but  self-knowledge  ;  not  knowledge 
of  methods  of  teaching,  but  resources  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  the  classroom.  Thus  the  effect  of  a  proper  course  of  train- 
ing will  be  in  the  first  place  to  reveal  to  the  teacher  his  own 
powers  and  limitations.  He  will  learn  by  it  how  much  he 
really  knows  and  how  much  he  has  yet  to  learn.  The  peculiar 
defects  and  peculiar  virtues  of  his  special  aptitude  will  be 
brought  home  to  him.  He  will  be  put  in  a  position  to  make 
the  most  of  himself.  But  a  further  result  of  training  will  be 
to  make  him  more  resourceful.  Knowing  the  fundamental 
principles  of  his  subject,  he  will-  be  able  to  give  it  greater 
depth  and  substance,  and  thus  to  make  it  a  better  nutri- 
ment for  growing  minds.  Drawing  his  illustrative  matter  from 
a  wider  range,  it  will  be  easier  foi__-lH+'n-  than  for  the  un- 
trained teacher  to  make  it  various  and  interesting.  The  trained 
teacher  will  also  be  better  able  than  the  untrained  to  take 
advantage  quickly  of  new  theories  about  the  teaching  of 
EngHsh,  He  will  not  need  to  be  told  by  others,  as  does  the 
untrained  teacher,  whether  the  novel  ideas  attractively  set  out 
before  him  are  educational  forces  or  educational  fads.     If  his 


3o8  THE   TRAINING   OF   THE    TEACHER 

training  has  been  what  it  should  be,  he  will  know  of  his  own 
knowledge. 

To  come  now  to  details,  it  is  obvious  that  certain  general 
requirements  will  be  laid  upon  all  who  teach  English ;  certain 
other  requirements  will  concern  more  especially  those  who  teach 
particular  branches  of  English,  as  composition,  grammar,  and 
literature.  In  what  follows  these  two  aspects  of  the  teacher's 
equipment  will  be  considered  separately. 


I.   General  Qualifications 

(i)  Among  the  general  requisites  may  be  mentioned,  first, 
ability  to  speak  and  write  the  English  language  with  clearness, 
Atiiity  to  use  accuracy,  and  freedom  from  bookishness.  This  qual- 
Good  English,  ifjcation  is  of  fundamental  importance,  and  should  be 
insisted  upon  ;  but  it  must  not  be  misinterpreted.  It  cannot  be 
held  necessary,  for  example,  that  the  teacher  should,  on  the  one 
hand,  illustrate  in  his  own  writing  and  speaking  the  "  graces  of 
diction,"  so  called,  or,  on  the  other,  that  he  should  express 
himself  in  a  severe  and  academic  manner.^  There  is  no  style 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  a  teacher  of  English,  nor  one  from 
which  he  may  be  required  to  abstain,  unless  it  is  a  bad  style. 
It  is  even  possible  —  and  the  fact  has  been  established  by 
numerous  examples  —  for  a  teacher  whose  mode  of  composition 
is  singularly  defective  to  train  up,  by  force  of  enthusiasm  and 
sympathy,  coupled  with  ardent  admiration  of  good  style  in 
others,  writers  of  the  first  rank.  Nevertheless,  it  is  highly 
desirable  that  all  teachers  of  English  should  be  able  to  express 
themselves  naturally  and  logically  and  with  taste. 

Although  the  foundation  for  such  an  equipment  must  be  laid 
early  in  life,  in  the  grammar  school  and  the  high  school,  yet 


1  "  How  often  has  it  been  my  experience  to  have  spoken  to  a  peda- 
gogic audience  on  some  topic  that  I  deemed  important,  and  to  find,  when 
the  question  was  opened  for  discussion,  that  I  had  before  me  the  task  of 
defending  my  pronunciation  or  my  syntax  instead  of  my  thesis."  Dr. 
Samuel  Thurber,  in  the  School  Review,  I.  651. 


777^:    TRAINING   OF  THE   TEACHER         309 

every  teacher  of  English,  even  of  mature  years,  may  do  some- 
thing to  improve  himself  in  this  regard.     He  can  seize  every 
opportunity  for  practice  in  writing ;  he  can  watch 
his  conversation  ;  he  can  prepare  himself  carefully  cumvation 
for  his  daily  talks  to  his  students.     A  teacher  who   "•   °s  s  . 
has  the  ambition  and  the  will  power  to  put  himself  through 
such  a  course  of  discipline,  can  in  a  few  months  bring  about  a 
marked  improvement  in  his  use  of  English.^ 

One  obstacle  which  lies  in  the  way  of  most  teachers,  but  es- 
pecially of  teachers  who  have  been  trained  in  certain  of  the 

normal  schools,  is  the  tradition  of  a  stiff,  frigid,  and 

,      .  .  .  School- 

yet  inaccurate  style  of  speech  and  writmg  sometimes   master's 

denominated  "schoolmaster's  English."  The  power 
of  this  speech-tradition  to  corrupt  the  mental  faculties  is  as 
striking  as  it  is  natural.  Walking  through  the  halls  of  a  school 
where  such  speech  is  traditional,  one  may  see  the  evidences  of  it 
in  the  faces  of  the  students.  Sitting  in  the  classroom,  one  may 
fairly  hear  the  mental  machinery  creak.  Singularly  enough, 
the  mastery  of  this  iron-jointed  dialect,  or  rather  the  being 
mastered  by  it,  is  not  incompatible  with  violations  of  taste  ; 
so  that  one  who  examines  the  writings  of  teachers  who  are  ad- 
dicted to  it  will  frequently  find,  scattered  through  the  arid  waste, 
hideous  artificial  flowers  of  rhetoric,  anecdotes  of  questionable 
propriety,  and  sometimes  humour  approximating  to  horse-play. 
The  teacher  of  English  who  has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  acquire 
this  scholastic  jargon  and  its  vicious  concomitants  should  take 
pains  to  rid  himself  of  it  by  every  means  in  his  power.  First, 
he  should  endeavour  to  cultivate  his  taste  by  the  extensive  read- 
ing of  simple,  unforced  prose,  —  the  writings  of  John  Burroughs, 
Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton,  W.  H.  Hudson  (^Idle  Days  in  Pata- 
gonia and  The  Naturalist  in  La  Plata)  will  be  of  some  help  for 
this  purpose.  In  the  next  place,  he  should  make  an  effort  to 
displace  the  characteristic  vocabulary  of  the  jargon.  Favourite 
words   and   phrases   should   be   noted   down,  and  hackneyed 


1  See  Palmer's  Self- Cultivation  in  English. 


310  THE    TRAINING   OF  THE    TEACHER 

terms,  when  they  are  discovered,  laid  upon  the  shelf.     By  the 

exercise  of  a  little  labour  and  some  vigilance,  the  teacher  may 

in  a  comparatively  short  time  rid  himself  of  this   disease  of 

speech. 

(2)   In  the  second  place,  it  is  important  that  the  teacher  of 

English  should  be  well  read  in  English  literature  and  English 

Knowledge  literary  history.^  That  he  should  have  expert  knowl- 
of  English  ^  ^  * 

Literature.       edge  of  the  whole  range  of  literature  in  English  is 

of  course  out  of  the  question  ;  but  he  ought  at  least  on  the  one 
hand  to  have  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  entire  field  and  to 
have  acquired  definite  ideas  of  the  course  of  literary  develop- 
ment, and  on  the  other  hand  to  have  formed  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  leading  English  classics.  As  regards  the 
history  of  literature,  the  greatest  danger  is  perhaps  that  the 
teacher  will  rest  content  with  biography  and  history  instead  of 
pursuing  the  study  of  literature  itself.  Literature  has  its  own 
peculiar  record,  which  in  a  sense  is  distinct  from  the  lives  of  the 
men  who  wrote  it  or  from  the  times  in  which  it  appeared,  closely 
as  it  is  related  to  both.  Not  to  grasp  the  essential  facts  and 
laws  of  Hterary  evolution  is  to  lack  a  most  important  clue  to  the 
proper  study  of  literature.  Again,  as  regards  literary  master- 
pieces, the  greatest  danger  is  that  the  teacher  will  mistake  vague 
recollections  of  the  utterances  of  critics,  more  or  less  eminent, 
for  acquaintance  with  the  works  themselves.  What  is  needed 
in  this  particular  of  his  training  is,  first,  appreciative  reading, 
which  through  sympathy  will  bring  the  reader  into  the  tlosest 
possible  contact  with  the  mind  of  the  writer,  and  then  critical 
reading,  which  through  the  exercise  of  the  judgment  will  reveal 
the  technical  sources  of  the  writer's  power. '^  Neither  kind  can 
be  dispensed  with.  The  first  is  needed  in  order  that  the 
appreciation  of  literature  may  be  genuine  and  vital,  not  merely 
formal;  and  the  second  in  order  that  the  appreciation  aroused 


1  The  word  "English  "  will  be  used  here  and  hereafter  in  the  sense  of 
English  and  American. 

2  See  "Two  Problems  of  Composition  Teaching,"  by  J.  V.  Denney, 
Contributions  to  Rhetorical  Theory,  No.  4. 


THE    TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER         31I 

by    the    first     kind    of    reading    may    not    degenerate    into 
sentimentality. 

How  extensive  ought  this  reading  to  be  ?     How  much  prose, 
how  much  poetry  should  a  candidate  for  a  position  as  teacher 

of  English  be  able  to  call  his  own  intimate  posses-  ^  ^ 

°  ^  Extent  of  the 

sion  ?     This  is  a  difficult  question,  and  any  answer  Teacher's 

.  Reading, 

to  it,  however  carefully  guarded,  is  liable  to  miscon- 
struction. Nevertheless  an  answer  will  be  risked.  As  a  con- 
venient measure  of  literature  in  bulk,  we  may  take  Professor 
Winchester's  Five  Short  Courses  of  Reading}  Let  the  candidate 
examine  Professor  Winchester's  lists  of  masterpieces  ;  if  he  finds 
that  he  has  familiar  personal  acquaintance  with  not  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  works  there  cited,  he  may  conclude  that  as 
concerns  the  particular  under  consideration  he  is  poorly  equipped 
for  a  position  as  teacher  of  English  in  a  secondary  school.  He 
should  hasten  to  read  the  other  third.  Let  him  not  infer,  how- 
ever, that  when  he  has  read  the  remaining  third  his  equipment 
will  be  complete.  Of  the  reading  of  English  masterpieces  there 
is  literally  no  end. 

A  word  of  advice  may  be  given  at  this  point  in  regard  to 
courses  of  reading.  Such  courses  are  often  fruitless  because 
they  are  undertaken  for  no  definite  purpose,  courses  of 
Nothing  is  more  futile  than  to  plod  wearily  through  Reading. 
great  tracts  of  prose  and  poetry  —  Wordsworth's  Excursion 
will  serve  as  an  example  in  both  kinds  —  just  for  the  sake  of 
being  able  to  say  that  they  have  been  traversed.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  definite  purpose  on  the  reader's  part  will  in  time  give 
interest  and  even  charm  to  any  worthy  piece  of  Hterature,  no 
matter  how  distasteful  it  may  have  been  at  the  start.  Such  a 
purpose  may  always  be  provided  by  this  simple  device  :  Let 
the  reader  ask  himself  a  question  that  can  be  answered  only  by 
a  perusal  of  the  work.  For  example,  suppose  the  case  of  a 
teacher  who  has  never  read  any  of  Thackeray's  novels.     He  — 


1  C.  T.  Winchester,  Five  Short  Cojtrses  of  Reading  in  English  Litera- 
ture with  Biographical  a7id  Critical  References.     Ginn.     1892. 


312  THE    TEA  TXT NG   OF  THE   TEACHER 

or  more  likely  she  —  has  not  found  in  them,  we  may  suppose, 
so  far  as  he  has  gone^  anything  likable.  Now  such  a  teacher, 
instead  of  being  asked  to  read  Thackeray  as  a  matter  of  con- 
science, should  be  referred  to  the  following  passage  in  Brownell's 
Victorian  Prose  Masters  (pp.  26-27)  :  — 

"  Nothing  better  attests  George  Eliot's  scientific  interest  in 
character  than  her  constant  exhibition  of  its  evolution.  This  is 
one  of  her  real  contributions  to  literature.  The  effect  of  circum- 
stances in  developing  a  character  like  Lydgate.  for  example, 
the  difference  between  Rosamond  as  she  is  first  introduced  and 
when  she  leaves  the  stage,  are  almost  Spencerian  demonstra- 
tions. This,  as  Mr.  Albert  Dicey,  I  think,  has  observed,  was 
an  unknown  thing  in  fiction  when  George  Eliot  began  to  write, 
and  it  is  naturally  savoured  by  the  palate  of  our  day,  which  seeks 
a  taste  of  science  even  in  its  literary  confections.  But  it  is 
needless  to  point  out  that  it  implies  an  instinct  quite  lacking  in 
Thackeray,  in  whose  view  character  is  spectacle,  significant 
spectacle,  to  be  sure,  and  its  significance  often  copiously  insisted 
upon,  but  essentially  spectacle,  and  not  the  illustrative  incarna- 
tion of  interesting  traits  and  tendencies.  This  is  also  Shake- 
speare's view,  it  may  be  added,  as  it  is  clearly  the  distinctly 
hterary  view  as  opposed  to  the  scientific." 

The  teacher  of  English  unfamiliar  with  Thackeray,  who,  after 
reading  this  extract,  will  not  at  once  (if  there  is  opportunity)  sit 
down  to  an  eager  perusal  of  Vanity  Fair  or  Pendennis,  in  order 
to  verify  the  criticism,  has  seriously  mistaken  his  vocation. 

The  question  started  for  this  purpose  need  not  be  abstruse ; 
indeed,  the  simpler  it  is  the  better ;  but  having  raised  it,  the 
teacher  should  pursue  it  relentlessly  through  the  work  in  hand. 
If  after  the  chase  is  begun  and  the  reader  is  in  full  cry,  the  work 
itself  should  become  so  interesting  that  it  is  read  for  its  own 
sake,  just  for  the  enjoyment  of  it,  doubtless  no  great  harm  will 
be  done.  ^ 


*  This  is  not  the  place  to  do  more  than  to  illustrate  this  method  of 
self-propulsion,  so  to  speak,  into  an  acquaintance  with  English  classics. 
Any  good  critical  essay  will  suggest  unsolved  literary  problems  which 
can  be  used  in  the  way  suggested  above. 


772^^    TRAINING   OF   THE    TEACHER         313 

(3)  Granted  a  mastery  of  the  mother-tongue  and  a  fair  ac- 
quaintance with  Enghsh  hterature,  it  remains  to  be  said  that  no 
teacher  has  an  adequate  preparation  for  teaching  Foreign 
English,  even  in  the  elementary  grades,  who  has  i^s^ages. 
not  been  thoroughly  grounded  in  at  least  one  foreign  language, 
ancient  or  modern.  It  is  a  commonplace  of  education  that  the 
mother-tongue  can  be  understood  and  appreciated  only  by 
those  who  have  made  some  progress  in  an  alien  tongue ;  and 
if  the  knowledge  of  one  foreign  tongue  is  good  for  the  teacher, 
a  knowledge  of  two  is  still  better.  What  this  language,  or  these 
languages,  shall  be  in  any  individual  case  is  a  question  which 
must  be  left  to  be  decided  by  the  teacher's  opportunities ;  but 
if  there  is  room  for  choice  and  but  two  languages  can  be  studied, 
doubtless  the  most  advantageous  combination  is  Latin  and 
German. 

A  knowledge  of  Old  English  is  also  desirable,  though  it  can 
be  more  easily   dispensed   with,  or  compounded  for,  than   a 

knowledge  of  the  classics  or  of  the   modern   Ian- 

X  J  /-Mj    r  Old  English. 

guages.  Important  on  many  grounds  as  (Jla  Eng- 
lish is,  the  contention  that  it  can  rival  Greek,  Latin,  French,  or 
German  as  a  quickening  force,  as  a  means  of  culture,  is  quite 
idle.  If  the  teacher  in  his  preparatory  work  must  choose 
between  Latin  and  Old  English,  or  German  and  Old  English, 
he  should  not  hesitate  long.  But  granting  that  the  other  lan- 
guages have  been  studied,  the  claims  of  Old  English  are  con- 
siderable. Only  through  the  systematic  study  of  the  older 
forms  is  it  possible  to  gain  a  just  idea  of  the  genius  of  the 
language  as  a  whole.  A  knowledge  of  the  older  forms  is 
also  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the  development  of  the 
language  and  of  its  present  condition.  A  teacher,  then,  who 
has  traced  the  stream  of  English  speech  from  its  fountain  head 
downward,  has  a  distinct  advantage  over  one  who  is  familiar 
only  with  its  modern  aspects. 

Old  English,  however,  is  far  from  being  a  difficult  study, 
especially  to  one  who  has  some  knowledge  of  German.  An 
hour  a  day  for  a  school  year  spent  upon  some  such  text-book 


314  THE    TRAINING   OF  THE   TEACHER 

as  Professor  A.  S.  Cook's  First  Book  in  Old  English,  will  give 
the  teacher  an  acquaintance  with  the  grammar  and  an  induc- 
tion into  the  literature ;  and  if  this  brief  study  be 

Cultivation      iudiciouslv  supplemented  by  a  summer's  term  at  a 
in  Old  English.  •*  /       ir  j 

college  or  university  under  some  one  who  has 
expert  knowledge,  the  subject  may  be  fairly  mastered,  for  all 
practical  purposes,  in  a  twelvemonth.  The  teacher  of  English, 
therefore,  to  whom  the  Anglo-Saxon  grammar  and  literature 
long  remain  a  sealed  book,  is  wholly  without  excuse  for  his 
ignorance. 


II.   Special  Qualifications 

The  preceding  qualifications  are  general  in  character,  and  such 
as  may  be  required  of  all  teachers  of  English.  It  is  now  desir- 
able to  consider  briefly  the  special  preparation  demanded  for 
the  teaching  of  specific  phases  of  English,  as  rhetoric  and 
composition,  grammar,  and  literature. 

(i)  The  essentials  in  the  equipment  of  a  teacher  of  compo- 
sition are  partly  matters  of  skill,  partly  matters  of  knowledge. 

Among  those  belonging  to  the  first  class  the  most 
Composition :     .  11.^1-  ,  1      • 

Theme- _  important,  or  at  any  rate  the  least  dispensable,  is 

skill  in  reading  and  correcting  themes.  Intrinsi- 
cally, skill  in  this  particular  is  not  perhaps  to  be  rated  very  high. 
It  may  be  no  more  than  a  knack.  One  may  conceivably  be  able 
to  read  themes  rapidly  and  correct  them  accurately,  and  yet  be 
good  for  very  little  else.  Still,  so  much  of  the  teacher's  happi- 
ness and  success  depends  upon  this  knack  that  it  must  be  set 
down  as  a  sine  qua  non.  The  born  teacher  of  composition 
reads  themes  rapidly  and  interestedly,  and  with  the  exhilaration 
which  comes  from  the  successful  performance  of  a  function  for 
which  one  is  specially  adapted.  If  then,  after  a  fair  trial  under 
favourable  circumstances,  the  teacher  finds  the  reading  of  themes 
slow,  irksome,  and  depressing,  he  may  fairly  conclude  that  he  is 
not  a  born  teacher  of  composition.  He  is  out  of  his  element 
and  he  cannot  by  any  possibility  be  entirely  successful  in  this 


THE   TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER         315 

field  unless  he  can  employ  some  one  else  to  do  the  correcting 
for  him  or  haply  can  devise  some  method,  as  yet  unguessed,  by 
which  essay-correcting  may  be  done  away  with.i  Although 
ability  to  do  this  kind  of  work  well  and  easily  is  a  natural 
aptitude,  it  is,  like  any  other  gift,  susceptible  of  great  improve- 
ment. If  it  is  present  in  some  degree,  but  undeveloped,  a 
systematic  effort  should  be  made  to  cultivate  it.^ 

(2)  As  a  second  qualification  of  the  teacher  of  composition, 
may  be  named  scholarship  in  the  history  and  theory  of  rhetoric. 

Such    training    has    often    been    decried    on    the 

°  Adyanced 

ground  that  the  teacher  who  has  made  a  pro-  study  of 
found  study  of  rhetorical  theory  will  be  disposed 
to  unload  his  erudition  on  the  class.  It  is  doubtful  whether  ex- 
perience will  bear  this  out,  but  even  if  it  should,  ignorance  of 
one's  subject  is  no  proper  safeguard  in  the  classroom.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  specialist  to  be  as  wise  as  he  can  in  his  own  line 
of  work.3  Furthermore,  the  teacher  who  has  made  an  exhaus- 
tive study  of  rhetorical  principles  has  a  real  advantage  in  the 


1  For  a  discussion  of  possiljle  substitutes,  see  tlie  report  of  the  investi- 
gation by  the  Pedagogical  Section  of  the  Modern  Language  Association,  in 
the  School  Review  for  May,  1902,  "  The  Undergraduate  Study  of  Com- 
position." The  following  anecdote  quoted  (from  memory)  from  Andrew 
Clark's  Stories  of  Lincoln  College  illustrates  a  method,  if  not  of  doing 
away  with  theme-correcting,  at  least  of  reducing  it  to  its  lowest  terms. 
The  scene  was  Mark  Pattison's  room  at  Oxford.  Pattison  was  standing 
with  his  back  to  the  grate  smoking,  when  a  knock  came  at  the  door  and 
to  him  there  entered  an  undergraduate  with  a  composition  in  his  hand. 
Pattison  took  the  paper,  quickly  ran  his  eye  over  it,  then  crumpled  it  up 
in  his  hand  and  threw  it  in  the  face  of  the  student,  who  immediately  left 
the  room.     Not  a  word  was  spoken  on  either  side. 

*  For  this  purpose  perhaps  no  exercise  is  better  than  impromptu  oral 
correction  before  a  class.  The  following  method  is  suggested.  The 
themes  are  placed  by  the  students  in  a  basket  on  the  teacher's  desk  just 
before  the  beginning  of  the  recitation.  The  teacher  has  no  opportunity 
of  examining  the  papers  in  advance.  At  the  opening  of  the  hour  he 
gathers  up  a  handful  of  them,  and  reading  them  aloud  makes  corrections 
as  he  goes.  The  unskilled  teacher  will  find  that  the  successful  perform- 
ance of  the  task  will  try  his  powers,  particularly  his  powers  of  concentra- 
tion and  discrimination,  to  the  utmost. 

8  For  a  contrary  view,  see  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Samuel  Thurber  at  the 


3l6  THE    TRAINING   OF  THE    TEACHER 

classroom  over  one  who  has  not  done  so.  Not  only  is  he  de- 
livered from  the  tyranny  of  the  text-book,  but  if  his  study  has 
been  of  the  right  kind  he  knows  ways  of  enriching  and  enliven- 
ing the  subject  which  are  denied  to  the  teacher  untrained  in  this 
respect.  Above  all,  a  thorough-going  study  of  rhetoric  absolves 
the  teacher  from  the  finicalness  and  intolerance,  characteristic 
ll  indeed  of  the  sciolist  in  any  Hne  of  thought,  but  peculiarly  char- 

acteristic of  the  sciolist  in  rhetoric. 

(3)  From  composition  we  may  pass  to  grammar.     It  is  a 
common  saying  that  grammar  is  the  worst-taught  subject  in  the 

English   curriculum.     If  the   saying   be   true,    the 
Grammar.  .        ,  ...  .... 

reason  for  the  condition  of  things  it  represents  is 

not  far  to  seek,  for  few  teachers  have  made  special  preparation 
for  teaching  English  grammar.  Such  preparation,  in  addition 
to  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  best  school  text-books,  should 
include  (i)  a  study  of  the  development  of  the  English  language 
from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present ;  (2)  a  study  of  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  comparative  philology,  or  the  science  of  lan- 
guage ;  (3)  a  study  of  the  psychology  of  speech.  Though  all 
of  these  subjects  are  abstruse,  they  have  fortunately  fallen  of  late 
into  the  hands  of  persons  who  have  treated  them  with  the  utmost 
simplicity.  In  their  main  principles  they  are  now  accessible  to 
every  teacher.'^  Of  the  three  subjects  specified,  the  first  is 
doubtless  the  most  indispensable,  for  a  teacher  who  is  ignorant  of 
the  history  of  his  mother-tongue  is  disqualified  for  the  teaching  of 
its  grammar ;  but  an  acquaintance  with  linguistics  and  with 
psychology,  even  though  it  be  but  a  limited  acquaintance,  will  be 
found  of  great  advantage.  The  comparative  study  of  language 
will  free  the  student  from  a  superstitious  reverence  for  gram- 
matical rules,   and  give  him  an  insight  into  the   true  nature 


eighth  annual  meeting  of  the  New  England  Association  of  Colleges  and 
Preparatory  Schools,  published  in  the  School  Review,  I.  650-655. 

1  See  the  Bibliography  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  The  most 
elementary  books  under  each  of  these  three  heads  are  perhaps  (i) 
Emerson's  History  of  the  English  Language ;  (2)  Sweet's  History  of 
Language;  (3)  T'xicln^ViQx's  Primer  of  Psychology. 


THE   TRAINING   OF  THE   TEACHER         317 

of  usage  and  idiom.  From  a  study  of  the  psychology  of  speech 
he  will  learn  through  what  processes  the  child  acquires  his  native 
tongue,  and  how  the  various  elements  of  the  language  present 
themselves  to  the  child-mind  at  different  stages  of  its  develop- 
ment. The  total  outcome  of  this  study  should  be  to  give  the 
teacher  a  new  conception  of  the  meaning  of  English  grammar 
and  its  place  in  the  curriculum.  He  should  cease  to  regard  it 
as  a  study  merely  of  abstract  rules  and  formulas ;  he  should 
come  to  see  that  the  underlying  subject  is  virtually  the  same  as 
that  which  underlies  composition  and  literature,  namely,  the 
expressive  and  communicative  activities  of  the  English-speaking 
race.  And  he  should  come  to  see  that  in  teaching  grammar  his 
chief  duty  is  to  awaken  the  minds  of  his  students  to  the  mean- 
ing of  their  own  familiar  modes  of  expression.  This  knowledge, 
of  itself,  if  it  could  be  brought  home  to  the  consciousness  of  the 
teacher,  would  effect  a  revolution  in  the  teaching  of  English 
grammar. 

(4)  Of  preparation  for  the  teaching  of  literature  the  most 

important  requisites — acquaintance  with  the   English  classics 

and  with  literary  history  —  have  been  specified  in 
,  ,  r        11  ,  \-  ^      ,.  ,      Literature, 

the  general  requirements  for  all  teachers  of  English. 

A  teacher  whose  special  subject  is  literature  should  naturally  go 
farther  in  the  same  direction.  He  should  know  his  classics 
more  intimately,  and  he  should  have  a  more  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  the  facts  of  literary  history.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  best  method  of  securing  this  profounder  knowledge  of 
literature  is  to  make  a  prolonged  and  exhaustive  study  of  a 
single  period,  a  single  author,  or  a  single  problem. 

(5)  Besides  knowing  the  masterpieces  and  literary  history,  it 

is  the  duty  of  every  teacher  of  English  literature  to  form  some 

acquaintance  with  the  underlving  principles  of  liter- 

...  T  ,  ,"  -r  ,  .      Principles  of 

ary  criticism.     Inasmuch  as  these  are  dependent,  in  literary 

the   modern  formulation  of  them,  upon   aesthetics 

and  psychology,  some  knowledge  of  these  latter  subjects  is  also 

to  be  desired.     How  far  such  studies  should  be  pursued  is  an 

open  question,  but  certainly  the  teacher  of  literature  who  can  to 


3l8  THE    TRAINING   OF  THE    TEACHER 

some  extent  derive  his  principles  of  criticism  and  his  standards 
of  appreciation  independently,  has  a  distinct  advantage  over  the 
teacher  who  is  compelled  to  take  his  principles  as  he  finds  them 
from  the  pages  of  a  text-book.  The  teacher  psychologically  and 
jesthetically  equipped  is  less  likely  to  be  bewildered  by  the  con- 
tradictory opinions  of  belligerent  critics,  or  to  be  overawed  by 
the  solemn  platitudes  of  self-constituted  authorities.  Knowing 
the  sources  from  which  critical  principles  are  derived,  he  is  able 
to  reconcile  the  seeming  inconsistencies  of  rival  theories  or 
to  explode  their  fallacies.  He  is  also  less  likely  to  be  tainted 
with  the  shallow  sentimentalism  which  in  some  schools  takes  the 
place  of  intelligent  appreciation. 

(6)  A  phase  of  literary  criticism  which  has  received  much 
attention  of  late  and  is  certain  to  receive  more,  is  the  study 
known  as  comparative  literature.  For  a  thorough 
Comparative  comprehension  of  literary  history,  this  study  is  doubt- 
less as  important  as  is  the  study  of  comparative 
philology  for  the  understanding  of  grammar.  Although  the  sub- 
ject has  not  as  yet  gained  a  foothold  in  many  universities  and 
although  its  principles  are  but  ill  defined,  the  ambitious  teacher 
of  literature  will  do  well  to  follow  with  some  care  the  progress  of 
this  branch  of  his  chosen  subject.^  The  recent  establishment 
of  the  Journal  of  Comparative  Literature,  edited  by  Professor 
George  E.  Woodberry  of  Columbia  University  and  published  by 
McClure,  Phillips  and  Company,  of  New  York,  gives  promise  of 
a  rapid  growth  of  interest  in  the  subject  in  this  country. 


1  For  the  chief  authorities  on  Comparative  Literature,  see  Gayley  and 
Scott's  Introduction  to  the  Methods  and  Materials  of  Literary  Criticism, 
Ginn,  1899,  pp.  248-278. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   PHILOSOPHY   OF   THE   ASSIGNMENT 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  has  not  hitherto  received  special  attention. 
For  a  discussion  of  the  principles  of  method  in  general,  see  such  works  as 
W.  James.     Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology.     Holt.     1899.     Pp.  91- 

115. 
Charles  De  Garmo.     The  Essentials  of  Method :  A  Discussion  of  the 

Essential  Forms  of  Right  Methods  of  Teaching.     Heath.     1889. 
Charles  De  Garmo.     Herbart   and  the  Herbartians.     Scribner.     1896. 

Pp.  130-140. 
Charles  A.  McMurry.     The  Elements  of  the  General  Method :  Based 

on  the  Principles  of  Herbart.     Public  School  Pub.  Co.     1892. 
A.  H.  Garlick.     A  New  Manual  of  Method.     Longmans.     1896. 
A.  Sidgwick.     On  Stimulus.     In  Three  Lectures  on  Subjects  Connected 

with  the  Practice  of  Education.     Cambridge,  University  Press.     1883. 

In  newspaper  offices  the  term  "  assignment "  is  used  to  de- 
note the  managing   editor's  allotment  of  a  particular  task  of 

reporting  to  a  particular  member  of  the  staff.     The  __     . 

^  °  ^  Meaning  of 

instructions  are  usually  written  in  a  book  called  the  the  Term 

Assignment. 
"  assignment  book."     This  word  "  assignment      it 

is  proposed  to  borrow  from  newspaper  usage  and  employ  in  a 
somewhat  broader  sense.  It  will  here  be  used  for  certain  class- 
room procedures  the  general  object  of  which  is  to  induce  in 
the  student  a  state  of  mind  favourable  to  composition.  Em- 
ployed in  this  sense,  the  term  includes  the  following  steps  : 
(i)  the  announcement  of  the  subject;  (2)  stimulation  of  interest 
in  the  subject ;  (3)  arousal  of  a  desire  to  write  upon  it ; 
(4)  suggestion  of  a  method  of  procedure  in  writing  ;  (5)  pre- 
cautions against  wasted  effort.  Each  of  these  points  will  be 
considered  in  turn. 


320     THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  ASSIGNMENT 

(i)  The  first  topic  suggests  the  interesting  question  whether 
it  is  better  for  the  student  to  select  his  own  subject  or  for  the 
SeiecUonof  teacher  to  select  a  subject  for  him.  Advantages 
a  Subject.  ^^^  -^^  urged  on  both  sides.  On  the  one  hand,  it 
may  be  said,  first,  that  to  choose  a  proper  subject  for  an  essay 
is  a  valuable  mental  exercise.  It  not  only  trains  the  student's 
judgment ;  it  increases  his  knowledge  by  compelling  him  to 
search  his  mental  stores  and  take  stock  of  his  available  resources. 
Secondly,  the  exercise  is  of  practical  value  to  the  student 
because  it  is  a  task  which  he  will  be  compelled  to  perform  often 
in  later  years.  In  the  school  of  life  there  will  be  no  teacher  at 
his  side  to  choose  his  subject  for  him.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  clear,  first,  that  much  of  the  mental  effort  expended  in  choos- 
ing is  of  no  practical  value,  because  it  is  misdirected  and  desul- 
tory. The  student  in  search  of  a  subject  ought  theoretically  to 
use  his  judgment,  but  practically  he  does  no  such  thing.  In- 
stead of  ransacking  his  mental  stores  and  making  comparison 
of  competing  subjects,  he  casts  his  eye  lazily  and  unobservantly 
over  the  field  of  things  in  general.  Delaying  his  choice  until  the 
eleventh  hour,  he  chooses  at  last  in  a  panic  and  quite  at  ran- 
dom. Such  a  procedure  as  this  is  relaxing  rather  than  strength- 
ening. Secondly,  to  meet  the  argument  that  training  in  choice 
of  a  subject  is  useful  in  later  life,  the  reply  may  be  made  that  in 
the  actual  struggle  for  existence  choice  among  unlimited  possi- 
bihties  is  extremely  rare.  It  may  even  be  said  that  choice  of  any 
kind  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule.  Men  who  make  a 
business  of  writing  do  not  spend  much  time  or  energy  in  choos- 
ing subjects  ;  subjects  are  chosen  for  them.  Reporters  on  news- 
papers, for  example,  are  told  explicitly  what  they  shall  write  ;  it 
is  seldom  that  they  have  an  opportunity  to  select  their  subjects. 
Reviewers  write  upon  the  books  that  are  sent  to  them  for 
review.  Novelists  and  essayists,  although  they  are  popularly 
supposed  to  have  great  liberty,  are  as  a  matter  of  fact  pursued 
relentlessly  by  ideas  which  cry  for  utterance  and  will  not  let 
them  rest.  The  true  man  of  letters  never  has  occasion  to  say, 
"  What  in  the  world  shall  I  write  upon  next?  "    His  sentiment  is 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  ASSIGNMENT    321 

more  likely  to  be,  ''  How  shall  I  find  time  for  all  the  things  that 
I  must  write  about?  "  It  is  the  same  with  lawyers,  doctors,  and 
other  professional  men  j  when  they  write  as  professional  men, 
they  have  little  opportunity  for  choice.  The  character  of  their 
work  determines  within  narrow  limits  the  subjects  of  their  com- 
positions. The  only  exception  to  this  rule  is  the  person  who  is 
taken  unawares ;  the  man,  for  example,  who  is  called  upon  un- 
expectedly to  '•'  say  something  "  at  a  banquet  or  to  write  an 
original  sentiment  in  a  young  lady's  album.  In  such  an  emer- 
gency (fortunately  rare  in  the  experience  of  most)  the  power  of 
choosing  rapidly  an  appropriate  subject  is  doubtless  an  advan- 
tage. Setting  this  exceptional  case  aside,  certain  positive  advan- 
tages accrue  from  the  teacher's  taking  the  selection  of  the 
subject  into  his  own  hands.  First,  he  can  in  this  way  consult  the 
genuine  needs  of  his  students  instead  of  humouring  their  whims. 
Second,  he  can  devise  a  progressive  series  of  topics,  covering 
a  definite  range  of  subject-matter.  And  finally,  it  is  in  his  power 
to  secure  the  advantage  which  comes  from  having  the  entire 
class  write  upon  the  same  subject.  From  these  considerations 
the  conclusion  may  be  drawn  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is 
better  for  the  teacher  to  choose  the  subject  for  the  student  than 
for  the  student  to  choose  the  subject  for  himself.  If  choice  is 
given,  it  should  be  limited.  The  student  may  be  allowed  to 
choose  one  of  two  alternative  subjects,  or  one  of  three  or  four 
aspects  of  the  same  subject. 

Not   to   neglect,    however,  the   benefit   which   undoubtedly 
comes  from  training  of  the  selective  power,  the  teacher  should 
now  and  then  give  a  special  exercise  in  choosing  a    a  Special 
subject.     This  exercise  should  be  carefully  prepared  subject^-^ 
for,  and  should  take  the  form  of  a  discussion.     The   ^^°°®"'S. 
teacher  should  lead  the  class  to  imagine  a  definite  situation  or 
emergency  where  the  choice  of  a  subject  is  necessary  and  urgent. 
He  should  then  ask  not  only,  "  What  subject  should  you  choose 
in  such  an  emergency  ?  "  but  "  How  would  you  go  about  the 
choice  of  it  ?  "     "  Why  would  you  choose  such  and  such  a  sub- 
ject rather  than  another  ?  "    In  other  words,  the  teacher  should 


322     THE   PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  ASSIGNMENT 

try  to  draw  out  from  the  class  and  impress  upon  them  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  subject-choosing.  Adroitly  managed, 
such  an  exercise  might  be  of  considerable  value. 

If  the  teacher  is,  then,  to  choose  the  subject  for  the  student, 
it  is  desirable  to  consider  next  the  principles  upon  which  his 
Principles  of  choice  shall  be  made.  These  may  be  briefly  stated 
Choice.  jjg  follows  :  (i)  The  subject  chosen  must  be  one 

that  is  interesting  to  the  teacher.  (2)  The  subject  chosen 
must  be  one  that  is  interesting,  or  that  can  be  made  interesting, 
to  the  students. 

Teachers  of  English  sometimes  think  that  the  first  principle 
can  be  neglected.  They  allow  tradition  to  impose  upon  them 
Freedom  of  subjects  for  which  they  care  little  or  nothing.  This 
the  Teacher,  jg  ^  serious  mistake,  and  is  a  potent  cause  of  indif- 
ferent composition  teaching.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
after  the  essays  are  written  they  must  be  read,  and  it  is  the 
teacher  who  will  read  them.  He  ought  to  read  with  intense 
interest  and  a  kindling  enthusiasm.  But  if  the  subjects  are 
distasteful  to  him,  his  reading,  despite  the  most  conscientious 
efforts,  will  be  half-hearted  and  ineffectual.  It  is,  then,  of  the 
utmost  importance  for  the  teacher  to  understand  that  in  his  se- 
lection he  is  —  theoretically  at  least  —  as  free  as  air.  The  world 
is  before  him,  where  to  choose.  There  is  no  corner  of  the  field 
of  literature,  science,  art,  philosophy,  or  humanity  which  is  not 
his  to  cultivate  if  he  desires.  Subject  to  a  single  limitation  — 
the  second  principle  —  he  may  as  legitimately  draw  the  subjects 
for  the  composition  work  from  the  mediaeval  romances  as  from 
current  politics,  from  the  Homeridse  or  the  Dutch  school  of 
painting  as  from  the  germ  theory  or  the  South  African  war. 

In  the  second  place,  the  subject  should  be  actually  or  poten- 
tially interesting  to  the  students  and  adapted  to  their  powers. 

This  is  not  so  serious  a  limitation  upon  the  teacher's 
Adaptation  t  ,  ,  •   , 

of  .Subject        choice  as  some  teachers  are  disposed  to  think.      A 

study  of  children's  minds  will  show  that  the  phases 

of  thought  or  human  activity  are  few  indeed  in  which  they  have 

not  some  rudimentary  concern,  some  germ  of  interest  capable 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  ASSIGA'.^fENT    323 

of  development.  The  difficulty  has  been  that  teachers  of  com- 
position have  conceived  of  subjects  quite  abstractly,  as  things 
which  clamour  to  be  written  upon  quite  apart  from  the  needs 
and  personality  of  the  individuals  who  are  to  write  upon  them. 
Substitute  for  the  term  ''  subjects  "  the  word  •'  interests,"  and 
the  question  takes  on  a  different  aspect.  Subjects,  in  the  ab- 
stract sense,  may  not  be  easy  to  find,  but  student  interests  are 
always  present  in  abundance. 

To  call  upon  students  to  give  expression  to  their  interests 
does  not  necessarily  mean,  however,  that  the  teacher  is  to  fol- 
low passively  the  students'  whims  and  fancies.  It  Healthy 
is  the  teacher's  business  to  detect  and  encourage,  l^^terests. 
not  interests  at  large,  but  vital  interests,  —  healthy  interests. 
There  are  such  things  as  unhealthy  interests,  and  these  it  is  his 
business  to  suppress. 

(2)  Assuming  that  a  subject  has  been  found  which  is  inter- 
esting to  the  teacher  and  potentially  interesting  to  the  members 
of  the  class,  the  next  step  is  to  make  the  potential  ^^j-onsaiof 
interest  actual,  —  if  possible,  to  make  the  student  Interest 
feel  that  this  subject  is  the  most  fascinating  thing  in  the  world. 
There  are  at  least  four  ways  of  arousing  such  an  interest.  The 
first  is  by  connecting  the  subject  with  other  subjects  already 
known  to  be  interesting.  In  order  that  he  may  use  this  kind  of 
stimulus  intelligently,  the  wise  teacher  will  make  a  special  study 
of  his  pupils.  He  will  learn  their  likes  and  dislikes  and  take 
stock  of  their  ideas.  Knowing  these  things,  he  will  next  seek 
for  some  point  of  contact  between  the  new  subject  and  the  ideas 
already  in  their  minds.  Somehow  he  will  find  a  place  in  the 
students'  present  scheme  of  interests  for  the  new  subject. 

The  second  method  of  stimulating  interest  in  a  subject  is  to 
employ  suspense  and  thereby  to  appeal  to  curiosity.  The 
method  is  seen  in  its  simplicity,  and  at  the  same  ^j^g  ^^ 
time  in  its  most  effective  form,  in  the  common  Suspense, 
device  of  the  interrupted  narrative.  The  teacher  develops  the 
subject  in  story  form  up  to  a  point  of  absorbing  interest.  Then 
he  suddenly  breaks  off  and  leaves  to  the  student  the  task  of 


324     THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  ASSIGNMENT 

writing  the  conclusion.  Similar  effects  may  be  secured  in  other 
ways.  The  teacher  may  give  to  a  subject  the  interest  of  a  puzzle 
or  a  paradox  by  discovering  in  it  contradictory  aspects  which 
need  to  be  reconciled,  or  by  revealing  phases  of  the  subject 
which  the  student  has  not  suspected,  or  by  suggesting  some 
novel  method  of  treating  it.  An  alert  and  enthusiastic  teacher 
will  delight  in  exercising  his  ingenuity  to  find  new  devices  for 
creating  suspense.  By  this  means  many  old  and  hackneyed 
subjects  may  be  given  a  new  lease  of  life. 

Turning  abstractions  into  concrete  images  is  a  third  method 
of  creating  interest.  For  this  purpose  the  teacher  should  use 
Appeal  to  the  illustrations,  examples,  allusions,  and  other  similar 
Imagination,  (jgyices  for  appealing  to  the  imagination.  Actual 
pictures  will  in  many  cases  work  wonders  in  making  the  dry 
bones  live. 

Fourthly  and  finally,  a  powerful  stimulus  may  be  supplied  by 
the  teacher's  own  sympathy  and  enthusiasm.  The  teacher's 
The  Teacher's  i^'^terest  will  kindle  a  like  interest  in  the  class  ;  no 
Sympathy.  student  can  resist  it.  It  is  essential,  however,  that 
the  emotion  should  be  genuine ;  interest  pumped  up  for  the 
occasion  will  leave  the  students  cold.  Another  caution  may  be 
given  at  this  point :  the  wise  teacher  will  not  say  that  a  given 
subject  is  interesting,  or  tell  the  pupil  that  he  ought  to  be  inter- 
ested in  it.  Still  less  will  he  upbraid  the  class,  or  any  individual 
member  of  it,  for  lack  of  enthusiasm.  Without  mentioning  the 
word"  interest,"  the  teacher  will  by  his  manner  and  his  mode  of 
speech  make  the  class  realize  the  attraction  that  the  subject  has 
for  him,  and  arouse  in  them,  through  the  influence  of  sympathy, 
a  feeling  similar  to  his  own. 

(3)    It  is  not  sufficient,  however,  for  the  teacher  merely  to 

arouse  interest  in  the  subject ;  he  should  also  arouse  a  desire  to 

write  upon  it.     Such  a  desire,  when  it  is  natural, 
Aronsal  of  .         ^  1       ,  1       •  1  ,      •  , 

the  Desire        sprmgs  from  two  healthy  impulses:  the  mipulse  to 

give  expression  to  one's  thoughts  and  feelings,  and 

the  impulse   to  communicate  one's  thoughts  and  feelings  to 

others.     Both  of  these  motive  powers  should  be  utilized  to  the 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF   THE  ASSIGNMEXT    325 

full.  Being  coraplementar\',  each  may  be  stimulated  by  giving 
exercise  to  the  other.  Thus,  in  order  to  cultivate  the  impulse 
to  expression,  it  is  sufficient  to  reveal  the  need  of  communica- 
tion. To  cultivate  the  impulse  to  communication,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  reveal  the  value  of  expression.  If,  for  example,  we 
wish  to  stir  in  any  person  a  longing  to  express  himself,  we  can 
do  so  most  effectually  by  showing  him  that  others  are  interested 
in  what  he  will  say.  The  sight  of  eager  faces,  the  conscious- 
ness of  waiting  auditors,  —  these  are  the  most  powerful  of  all 
stimuli  to  expression.  Conversely,  the  impulse  to  communica- 
tion may  be  set  going  by  making  the  writer  or  speaker  realize 
the  value  to  others  of  the  information  he  is  prepared  to  impart. 
To  call  out  and  utilize  these  two  impulses,  the  student  should 
be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  a  member  of  the  little  community 
embraced  within  the  family  and  the  school.  What  he  has  to 
say  is  of  some  value  to  the  other  members  of  this  community. 
He  has  his  part  to  play  in  furnishing  them  with  information  or 
amusement  or  criticism.  This  means  that  in  assigning  the  work 
the  teacher  should  be  at  some  pains  to  provide  an  audience  or 
a  reader.  Sometimes  the  audience  will  be  real,  sometimes  it 
will  be  imaginary,  but  it  should  never  be  entirely  lacking. 

(4)  It  is  appropriate  and  desirable,  particularly  in  the  earlier 
years,  that  the  teacher  should  assist  the  student  in  blocking  out 
his  work.  He  may,  if  he  chooses,  suggest  more  or  snggestion 
less  definitely  a  method  of  analysis,  an  order  of  "^  Method, 
topics  and  a  mode  of  beginning  and  concluding.  He  may  even 
go  farther.  The  appropriate  length  of  the  composition,  the 
due  proportion  of  the  parts  to  the  whole,  the  method  of  devel- 
opment, the  adaptation  of  matter  and  manner  to  the  needs  of 
the  readers,  —  all  these  things  may  be  spoken  of  in  the  assign- 
ment, though  the  extent  to  which  they  are  introduced  and  the 
emphasis  to  be  thrown  upon  them  are  matters  to  be  decided  ad 
hoc  in  individual  cases.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  this  part 
of  the  assignment  should  be  rather  of  the  nature  of  hints  and 
suggestions  than  of  positive  injunctions.  Here,  at  any  rate,  is 
no  place  for  formal  rules  of  rhetoric.     If  in  this  portion  of  the 


326     THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE   ASSIGNMENT 

assignment  rhetorical  principles  are  cited  at  all,  they  should  be 

brought  in  by  way  of  implication  rather  than  by  direct  statement.^ 

(5)    Finally,  since  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  it  is  well  to 

devote  a  portion  of  the  assignment  to  prophylaxis  :  /.  ^.,  the 

teacher  may  at  the  close  caution  the  student  against 

prevailing  errors  and  endeavour  to  forestall  possible 

misconceptions.    Such  cautions,  however,  should  not  be  thrown 

out  at  random ;  they  should  be  aimed  at  the  besetting  sins  of 

the  class  in  hand  or  at  the  temptations  peculiar  to  the  subject. 

The  faults  of  individuals  should  receive   individual    attention. 

In  any  case,  this  negative  feature  should  be  touched  with  a  light 

and  rapid  hand.    To  close  the  assignment  with  a  lecture  on  the 

errors  of  preceding  essays  is  to  destroy  to  some  degree  its 

dynamic  effect. 

To  sum  up.  The  assignment  is  a  talk  —  generally  a  brief 
talk  —  given  by  the  teacher  to  the  composition  class.  Its  pur- 
pose is  to  throw  the  student  into  the  proper  mood 
or  frame  of  mmd  for  composmg  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. This  it  does  by  providing  him  with  an  interesting  subject 
to  write  about,  by  making  him  feel  that  he  is  capable  of  writing 
about  it,  by  showing  to  him  that  other  persons  want  him  to  write 
about  it,  and  by  giving  him  some  intimation  of  the  best  method 
of  attacking  it.  It  may  also  include  cautions  against  miscon-; 
ception  or  error.  The  effect  of  the  whole  should  be  to  create  a, 
natural  situation,  real  or  imaginary,  in  which  the  student's  powers 
of  expression  and  communication  are  stimulated  to  their  normal 
maximum. 


^  This  remark,  however,  applies  more  particularly  to  the  lower  grades  ; 
in  more  advanced  classes  there  is  no  reason  why  a  rhetorical  principle 
should  not  now  and  then  be  explicitly  stated  in  the  assignment. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ESSAY-COEEECTING 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

H.  G.  Buehler.  On  Correcting  Compositions.  Educational  Review, 
VII.  492. 

P.  Chubb.  The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Elementary  and  the  Sec- 
ondary School.  Macmillan.  1902.  See  references  s.  v.  Correction  in 
the  Index. 

C.  T.  Copeland  and  H.  M.  Hideout.  Freshman  English  and  Theme- 
Correcting  in  Harvard  College.     Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.     1901. 

B.  A.  Hinsdale.  Teaching  the  Language-Arts  :  Speech,  Reading,  Com- 
position.    Appleton.     1S96.     Chapter  XVIII. 

W.  H.  Maxwell.  An  Experiment  in  Correcting  Compositions.  Educa- 
tional Review,  VII.  240. 

Jules  Payot.  A  suggestive  series  of  papers  in  the  Revue  Universi- 
TAIRE  for  July,  1S97,  and  January',  February,  and  April,  1898. 

A.  Salles.  De  la  Composition  fran9aise.  Revue  Universitaire  for 
December,  1S95. 

S.  Thurber.  The  Correction  of  School  Compositions.  The  [Syra- 
cuse] Academy,  VI.  254. 

The  opinion  that  the  correcting  of  school  compositions  is  a 

low  and  disagreeable  form  of  mental  labour  has  been  expressed 

so   often   and   with  so  much  emphasis  and  by  so 

many  eminent  authorities  that  it  has  now  come  to  Correcting: 

in  ni-Repute. 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  condensed  wisdom  of 

humanity.     Persons  who  do  not  profess  to  know  anything  else 

about  the  teaching  of  English,  know  that  much,  and  cannot  be 

shaken  in  their  conviction.     The  teacher  of  composition  who 

appears  upon  the  street  or  the  campus  with  a  bundle  of  .essays 

under  his  arm  is  greeted  by  his  friends  with  pitying  smiles  and 

expressions   of  sympathy.     If  he   ventures   to   demur,  as   he 

sometimes  does,  and  to  aflfirm  that  he  is  still  an  optimist  and  on 

the  whole   rather  enjoys  this  kind  of  work,  the  look  of  pity 


328  ESS  A  V-  CORRECTING 

slowly  changes  to  one  of  rapt  astonishment,  to  be  succeeded 
in  turn  by  shouts  of  laughter.  He  must  be  joking.  That  any 
one  should  actually  derive  pleasure  from  the  correction  of  school 
compositions  is  too  much  for  human  credulity. 

For  this  general  sentiment  regarding'  the  disagreeableness 
of  theme-correcting  there  is  doubtless  a  basis  of  fact.  It  must 
istheEvU  ^^  conceded  at  once  that  to  particular  persons, 
Intrinsic?  jj^  particular  schools,  on  particular  occasions,  the 
work  of  correction  is  unrelieved  drudgery.  But  the  question 
which  it  is  desired  to  raise  in  this  discussion  is  not  particular,  but 
general.  What  we  wish  to  inquire  is  whether  or  not  correcting 
is,  with  some  happy  exceptions,  inevitably  joyless, — joyless 
intrinsically  and  universally.  There  is  at  least  a  possibility  that 
the  disagreeableness  of  which  complaint  is  made  is  due  not  to 
an  inherent  and  inseparable  quality  of  the  act,  but  to  some 
•accidental  quality,  —  to  some  accompaniment  or  set  of  un- 
favourable conditions  under  which  the  act  has  hitherto  been 
performed.  We  know  that  this  may  be  the  case  in  other 
branches  of  study.  Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  case  of 
a  teacher  of  Virgil.  Under  favourable  conditions,  the  teaching 
of  the  poetry  of  Virgil  is  regarded  by  students  of  Latin  as  a 
fairly  agreeable  task,  interesting  and  enjoyable  to  teacher  and 
pupil  alike.  But  in  particular  cases  the  conditions  may  not  be 
favourable.  Suppose  the  case  of  a  teacher  who  is  compelled 
to  teach  Virgil  eight  hours  a  day  for  six  days  in  the  week. 
Suppose  also  that  he  has  Virgil  conferences  which  take  up  the 
remainder  of  his  working  hours  and  even  encroach  on  his 
sleep.  Who,  under  these  conditions,  would  not  sicken  of  the 
^neidl  Or  take  the  case  of  a  teacher  who,  having  prepared 
himself  for  the  teaching  of  Latin,  is  called  upon  to  teach  some- 
thing of  a  wholly  different  character,  —  let  us  say,  geometry. 
Although  he  knows  little  about  geometry,  we  may  suppose,  and 
cares  nothing  about  its  pedagogical  aspects,  —  perhaps  seriously 
misapprehends  the  end  and  aim  of  the  science,  —  he  is  yet 
compelled  to  teach  it  to  his  classes  four  hours  a  day  for  five 
days  in  the  week.     Conceive  how,  longing  all  the  time  to  be 


ESSA  Y-CORRECTING  329 

at  his  Latin,  such  a  teacher  would  comport  himself  toward  the 
teaching  of  geometry. 

Yet  it  not  unfrequently  occurs  that  the  correcting  of  essays 
is  performed  under  conditions  not  less  unfavourable  than  those 
hinted  at  in  the  illustrations  given  above.  It  is  unfavourable 
not  uncommon  for  teachers  of  English  in  second-  Conditions, 
ary  schools  who  are  conducting  twenty  hours  of  recitation  a 
week,  to  sit  up  until  twelve  o'clock  night  after  night  in  order  to 
correct  the  compositions  of  their  pupils,  and  to  give  liberally 
of  their  time  after  school  hours  to  personal  conferences.  And 
cases  are  not  unknown  where  the  teacher  of  composition  longs 
eagerly  in  his  secret  heart  to  teach  some  other  subject  — 
literature,  perhaps.^  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  task  is  in  such 
cases  uncongenial?  If  these  untoward  conditions  were  re- 
moved, is  it  not  conceivable  that  the  correcting  of  essays  might 
be  found  intrinsically  as  attractive  as  the  teaching  of  Virgil  or 
of  geometry  ?  Examining  these  unfavourable  conditions,  let  us 
attempt  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  can  be  ameliorated. 
They  are,  as  implied  in  the  illustrations,  as  follows  :  — 

(i)  The  amount  of  correction  is  often  greater  than  the 
teacher  should  be  asked  to  undertake. 

(2)  The  work  of  correction  is  sometimes  Undertaken  by 
persons  who  have  no  special  aptitude  for  it. 

(3)  The  work  of  correction  is  sometimes  undertaken  by 
persons  who  have  had  no  special  training  for  it.  And  as  a 
corollary  from  this, 

(4)  The  work  of  correction  is  sometimes  undertaken  by 
persons  who  misapprehend  its  purpose  and  essential  charac- 
teristics. 

The  first  condition,  namely,  the  excessive  amount  of  correc- 
tion that  teachers  of  English  are  asked  to  undertake,  is  doubt- 


1  "  I  have  never  done  any  rhetorical  work  at except  in  connection 

with  my  courses  in  literature,  and  I  thank  God  I  have  been  delivered 
from  the  bondage  of  theme-work  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  literature." 
From  a  private  letter  by  a  teacher  in  an  Eastern  University. 


330  .       ■       ESSAY-CORRECTING 

less  the  most  unfavourable,  and  is  responsible  for  most  of  the 
complaint.  It  is  also  the  most  difficult  to  remedy.  Three  solu- 
Co-operative  tions  of  the  problem  may  be  considered.  The  first 
Correction.  jg  ^q  distribute  the  essays  to  be  corrected  among 
teachers  of  other  subjects.  The  teacher  of  Latin  takes  a  bunch, 
the  teacher  of  physics  another  bunch,  the  teacher  of  mathematics 
another,  until  perhaps  a  third  of  the  number  has  been  peddled 
out.  The  teacher  of  English  takes  the  rest.  This  co-operative 
plan  has  seemed  to  some  principals  an  easy  method  of  solving 
the  problem,  and  is  now  in  practice  in  a  considerable  number 
of  schools.  The  chief  objections  to  the  method  are,  (i)  that 
it  throws  the  important  work  of  correction  into  the  hands  of 
persons  who  may  have  had  no  preparation  for  it  and  may  have 
no  liking  for  it ;  (2)  that  it  divides  responsibility  for  the  method 
and  degree  of  thoroughness  of  the  correction,  and  by  making  it 
anybody's  business  ultimately  makes  it  nobody's  business ;  and 
(3)  that  it  prevents  or  delays  the  proper  recognition  of  the 
special  teacher  of  composition. 

These  are  theoretical  considerations.  Whether  or  not  the 
method  is  pernicious  in  its  practical  application  must  be 
decided  by  an  inspection  of  the  schools  in  which  it  is  in 
force.  In  several  cases  where  it  has  been  tried  under  the 
most  favourable  circumstances  it  has  resulted  in  a  rapid  lower- 
ing of  the  standard  of  written  English. 

A    second   solution    was    suggested    several   years   ago   by 
Professor  William  Lyon  Phelps,  of  Yale,  in  a  brief  article  con- 
tributed to  the  Century  Magazine.     The  nature 
Correctio  .      ,  ....  .  ,       r  n       • 

anon  of    the  suggestion  will   appear  from   the  following 

corrigendo. 

extract :  — 

"A  wide  reader  is  usually  a  correct  wTiter  ;  and  he  has  reached 
the  goal  in  the  most  delightful  manner,  without  feeling  the 
penalty  of  Adam.  .  .  .  We  would  not  take  the  extreme 
position  taken  by  some,  that  all  practice  in  therne-writing  is 
time  thrown  away  ;  but  after  a  costly  experience  of  the  drudgery 
that  composition  work  forces  on  teacher  and  pupil,  we  would 
say  emphatically  that  there  is  no  educational  method  at  present 
that  involves  so  enormous  an  outlay  of  time,  energy,  and  money. 


ESS  A  Y-CORRECTING  3  3 1 

with  so  correspondingly  small  a  result.  ...  In  order  to  support 
this  with  evidence,  let  us  take  the  experience  of  a  specialist 
who  investigated  the  question  by  reading  many  hundred  soph- 
omore compositions  in  two  of  our  leading  colleges,  where  the 
natural  capacity  and  previous  training  of  the  students  were 
fairly  equal.  In  one  college  every  freshman  wrote  themes 
steadily  through  the  year,  with  an  accompaniment  of  sound 
instruction  in  rhetorical  principles  ;  in  the  other  college  every 
freshman  studied  Shakspere,  with  absolutely  no  training  in 
rhetoric  and  with  no  practice  in  composition.  A  comparison 
of  the  themes  written  in  their  sophomore  year  by  these  students 
showed  that  technically  the  two  were  fully  on  a  par.  That  is 
weighty  and  most  significant  testimony."  ^ 

Could  the  theory  of  the  above  citation  be  established  as 
sound,  a  delightful  simplification  of  the  composition  work  would 
at  once  ensue.  Composition  classes  could  be  disbanded. 
Readers  of  themes  would  drop  their  pencils  and  become  readers 
of  Shakspere..  The  raw  student  could  be  left  to  absorb  from 
his  Addison,  his  Macaulay,  and  his  Stevenson,  with  scarce  an 
effort,  the  proficiency  in  writing  which  his  predecessors  had 
won,  so  to  speak,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Unfortunately, 
however,  the  data  for  settling  the  question  are  not  yet  at  hand. 
It  is  dangerous  to  generalize  from  a  single  instance,  even  when 
the  utmost  precautions  have  been  taken  to  insure  scientific 
accuracy.  In  this  case  no  precautions  appear  to  have  been 
taken.  Consequently  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  results 
obtained  were  not  due  to  wholly  different  causes  from  those 
assumed  in  the  article.^ 


1  Century  Magazine,  LI.  793,  794. 

2  In  order  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  problem,  or  at  least  to  obtain 
opinions  as  to  how  light  might  be  thrown  upon  it,  the  pedagogical  section 
of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America  issued  in  1901  a  circu- 
lar letter  addressed  to  a  large  number  of  teachers  of  English  in  this 
country  and  abroad,  containing  the  extract  cited  above.  To  the  extract 
were  appended  the  following  questions  :  — 

I.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  idea  expressed  in  the  quotation  ? 
2.  Do  you  know  of  any  similar  experiments  ?  If  so,  please  give  full 
details.     3.  Do  you  think  it  is  possible  to  conduct  an  experiment  or  a 


332  ESSAY-CORRECTING 

The  third  solution  of  th«  problem  is  to  increase  the  number 
of  teachers.  If  themes  must  be  read,  let  the  schools  furnish 
More  Teachers  '^'^^  ™^^  ^"^  women  to  read  them.  Double  the 
Heeded.  force  ;  if  necessary,  triple  or  quadruple  it.     If  in  a 

high  school  in  which  there  are  four  hundred  pupils,  ten  readers 
are  necessary  to  handle  all  of  the  written  work,  then  have  ten 
readers.  To  this  the  objection  will  be  raised  that  the  tax- 
payers will  not,  and  in  many  cases  cannot,  afford  to  pay  the  addi- 
tional expense  required.  But  this  objection  can  easily  be  set 
aside  by  an  appeal  to  the  history  of  education.  Past  experience 
shows  that  the  general  public  has  never  shrunk  from  lavish  ex- 
penditure upon  the  schools  as  soon  as  it  was  convinced  of  the 
necessity.  Not  many  years  ago,  physics  and  chemistry  were 
taught  in  our  high  schools  at  little  greater  expense  than  Latin 
and  Greek.  The  laboratory  method  was  almost  unknown.  Now 
even  the  smallest  high  school  has  its  laboratory,  equipped  with 
expensive  apparatus,  while  the  equipment  of  the  larger  high 
schools  for  botany,  zoology,  physics,  and  chemistry  fairly  puts 
the  universities  to  shame.  It  is  not  unusual  for  large  high 
schools  to  spend  eight,  ten,  even  twenty  thousand  dollars 
in  a  lump,  for  means  of  instruction  in  science.  This  being  so, 
surely  it  is  not  wholly  past  belief  that  if  a  concerted  attempt 
were  made  to  arouse  public  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  English 
composition,  the  money  could  be  obtained  for  doubling  or 
quadrupling  the  force  of  teachers. 

Whether  this  happy  state  will  ever  be  attained  or  not,  of  one 
thing  we  may  be  sure.     It  is  that  up  to  the  present  time  too 


series  of  experiments  which  would  furnish  conclusive  proof  of  the  value 
or  the  futility  of  requiring  freshmen  to  write  themes  steadily  through 
the  year  ? 

A  few  of  the  most  suggestive  answers  were  embodied  by  Professor 
W.  E.  Mead,  the  Secretary  of  the  Pedagogical  Section,  in  a  report  pub- 
lished in  the  School  Review  for  May,  1902,  under  the  title  "The 
Undergraduate  Study  of  English  Composition."  As  will  appear  from 
the  specimens  there  given,  opinion  was  fairly  divided,  though  the  burden 
of  proof,  as  Professor  Mead  says,  still  rests  upon  the  advocates  of  read- 
ing as  against  theme-writing  and  theme-correcting. 


ESSAY-CORRECTING  333 

little  credit  has  been  given  to  the  teacher  of  English  for  the 
composition   work   actually   done  in  the  schools,  and   conse- 
quently not  enough  allowance  has  been  made  for 
1        •  ,  ,1  ,  ,  •    ,  ■     1     ^  ,       Composition 

the  tmie  that  must  be  devoted  to  this  kmd  of  work.   Teachers 
Tr,i  .■         r  11-  I       Overworked. 

If  the  correction  of  essays  be  taken  into  account,  the 

teacher  of  English  frequently  does  two  or  three  times  as  much 
work  as  any  other  teacher  in  the  school.  Indeed,  this  is  so 
well  known  that  it  is  sometimes  a  matter  of  common  jest  among 
the  teaching  force.  It  should  be  said  for  the  teachers  of  Eng- 
lish that  they  take  these  jests  in  good  part,  and  assume  the 
extra  burden  in  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  that  is  in  the  highest 
degree  commendable.  But  this  sacrifice  should  not  be  asked 
of  them.  The  burdens  of  teaching  should  as  soon  as  possible 
be  adjusted  more  equitably.  It  is  not  unduly  magnifying  the 
importance  of  the  English  work  to  say  that  in  any  school  when 
the  time  comes  for  an  enlargement  of  the  teaching  force  the 
first  question  asked  should  be,  not  '*  Do  we  need  another  teacher 
of  science,  or  of  history,  or  of  mathematics?"  but  "  Do  we  not 
greatly  need  another  teacher  of  English?"  This  should  come 
first ;  other  questions  later. 

The  second  unfavourable  condition,  namely,  that  the  work  of 
correction  falls  to  the  lot  of  persons  who  have  no  special  apti- 
tude for  it,  may  be  dismissed   somewhat    briefly. 

^  .      special 

Elsewhere  in  this  book,  the  point  has  been  made   Aptitude 
,  .  ,  .      ,       -  ...        Necessary, 

that  special  aptitude  for  essay-correcting  is  a  stfie 

qua  non  for  a  successful  teacher  of  composition.  Yet,  in  taking 
stock  of  the  candidate's  quahfications,  it  is  commonly  disre- 
garded. The  assumption  often  seems  to  be  that  anybody  who 
can  read  and  write  the  English  language  with  a  fair  degree  of 
proficiency  may  be  entrusted  with  the  correction  of  composi- 
tions. In  one  sense  this  is  perhaps  true.  Everybody,  or  almost 
everybody,  can  correct  mistakes  in  spelling  or  can  caution  the 
pupil  against  certain  well-known  errors  of  speech,  though  even 
in  this  limited  field  some  grotesque  misconceptions  might  be 
noted;  but,  as  will  be  argued  presently,  this  is  not  the  essential 
part  of  essay-correction.     Special   aptitude,  native   talent   for 


334  ESSAY-CORRECTING 

this  kind  of  work,  genuine  liking  for  it  in  all  its  phases,  is 
probably  as  rare  as  a  gift  for  mathematics,  for  the  classics,  or 
for  the  biological  sciences.  Any  one,  therefore,  who  purposes 
to  undertake  the  teaching  of  English  composition  ought  to  ask 
himself  seriously  whether  he  has  a  special  aptitude  for  correct- 
ing essays.  Should  he  decide  that  in  his  case  such  aptitude  is 
lacking,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  should  forthwith  give  up  all 
thought  of  teaching  composition,  for  he  may  be  mistaken  in  his 
judgment  of  himself;  but  he  should  understand  at  the  outset 
that  in  the  struggle  for  existence  he  is  seriously  handicapped, 
and  that  he  may  be  displaced,  or  at  least  outstripped,  at  any 
time  by  some  one  who  through  natural  endowment  is  better 
fitted  to  survive.  He  should  also  understand  that  a  kind  of 
work  which  is  distasteful  to  him  is  not  likely  to  be  either  very 
attractive  or  very  profitable  to  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as 
to  be  in  his  classes. 

In  the  third  place,  it  sometimes  occurs  that  the  teacher  who 
has  a  moderate  number  of  essays  to  correct  and  also  has  special 
aptitude  for  correcting  them,  seriously  misapprehends  the  nature 
of  the  task.  To  make  this  point  clear  it  is  necessary  to  speak 
at  a  little  length  of  the  purpose  of  composition  and  the  part  that 
correction  plays  in  it. 

What  is   the  object  of  composition  work   in   the  schools? 

Most  teachers  would  reply  to  this  question  that  it  is  to  develop 

the  student's  facility  in  the  use  of  language.     In  one 
The  Object  of  ,  .    .  ^  •'     ,  .  r 

Composition     sense  this  IS  true,  but  the  answer  may,  and  frequently 

does  in  practice,    conceal   a  serious  fallacy.     The 

teacher  of  composition  who  does  no  more  than  to  cultivate   in 

his  Students  a  facility  of  speech  has  overlooked  the  main  point. 

His  first  and  most  important  duty  is  to  develop  character,  to 

bring  out  in  the  boy  or  girl  the  man  or  woman  that  is  to  be,  to 

fit  the  student  for  the  part  that  he  is  to  play  in  life.     To  this  end 

instruction  in  English,  as  in  any  other  subject,  is  but  a  means. 

We  may,  then,  answer  the  question  that  stands  at  the  beginning 

of  the  paragraph  in  some  such  way  as   this.     The  object  of 

composition  teaching  is  to  fit  the  student  to  play  his  part  in  the 


ESS  A  Y-CORRECTING  335 

business  of  life  so  far  as  his  use  of  language  is  concerned  ;  or, 
otherwise  put,  to  enable  him  in  any  calling,  as  politics,  religion, 
science,  medicine,  literature,  to  use  the  toollanguage  in  the 
most  effective  way. 

This  sounds,  perhaps,  like  quibbling,  but  it  is  not.     The  dis- 
tinction is  important  and  vital  and  far-reaching.     The  doctrine 
so  sharply  rebuked  by  Socrates  in  the  Gorgias  —  the   character 
doctrine,  namely,  that  facility  of  pen  and  voice  comes   FaciSty  of 
first  in  degree  of  importance,  manhood  and  woman-   ^^^^  ' 
hood   second  —  unfortunately  did  not   perish    with  the  Greek 
sophists.     It  still  lives  and  exerts  a  powerful  influence  in  our 
courts,  our  political  gatherings,  our  newspapers,  and  our  legisla- 
tures.    It  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  of  composition  to  kill  it 
at  the  root.     If  he  does  this,  his  work  is  so  far  good,  though  his 
students  break  every  rule  in  English  grammar.     And  if  he  does 
not  do  this,  though  he  teach  his  pupils  to  speak  with  the  tongues 
of  men  and  of  angels,  his  work  is  so  far  a  failure. 

To  fit  the  student  to  employ  his  tongue  and  his  pen  in  the 
service  of  his  manhood,  the  teacher  may  employ  a  variety  of 
agencies.  First,  he  may  use  the  potent  influence  of  Meaning  of 
good  literature.  Second,  he  may  give  the  student  Correction, 
practice  in  writing  and  speaking.  Third,  he  may  instruct  the 
student  in  the  principles  of  rhetoric  ;  that  is,  he  may  call  his  at- 
tention to  the  uniformities  of  expression  observable  in  the 
composition  of  successful  writers.  Fourth,  —  and  this  is  the 
point  in  which  we  are  now  especially  interested,  —  he  may  take 
note  wherein  the  student's  powers  and  habits  of  expression  are 
susceptible  of  improvement,  and  by  words  of  encouragement,  ad- 
vice, caution,  or  censure,  as  the  case  requires,  may  help  him  to 
overcome  his  faults.  It  is  this  last  procedure  to  which  the  term 
"correction "  is  applied.  Under  this  head  should  be  brought  not 
only  abbreviations,  hints,  and  questions  written  in  the  margin  of 
the  essay,  but  also  counsel  and  suggestion  given  to  the  student 
orally. 

Taking  correction  in  this  broad  sense,  we  may  say  that  its 
purpose,  like  that  of  composition  teaching  in  general,  is  the 


336  ESSAY-CORRECTING 

development  of  the  individual  student  with  respect  to  his  use 
of  language.  Its  specific  aim  is  the  checking  of  bad  habits 
Aim  of  of  expression  and  communication  and  the  substitu- 

Correction.  ^^^^  ^^^  i\\Qm  of  good  habits.  Inasmuch  as  all  who 
learn  to  write  commit  errors  of  one  kind  or  another,  correction 
is  an  indispensable  part  of  the  teaching  of  composition. 

Regarding  correction  from  the  point  of  view  indicated  above, 
we  may  next  inquire  into  its  proper  nature  and  spirit.  From 
what  has  just  been  said,  we  may  infer  certain  general  character- 
istics, as  follows  :  — 

(i)    Correction  should  be  individual.     Study  of  the  individual 

student,  the  proper  starting-point  for  all  teaching  of  composition, 

is  peculiarly  necessary  as  a  basis  for  correction. 
Study  of  the      „,  j  ,  r  x^     ,•  ,        ■„ 

Individual        1  he  good  teacher  of  English  will  try  to  know  his 

students  through  and  through.  Informing  himself 
in  every  possible  way  regarding  the  influences  that  have  shaped 
their  speech  thus  far  and  have  given  it  its  individuality,  he  will 
be  interested  in  learning  their  present  habits  of  mind, — their 
ambitions,  their  doubts,  their  fancies,  their  likes  and  dislikes. 
By  careful  inquiry  and  observation,  and  perhaps  by  experiment, 
he  will  try  to  determine  each  student's  failings  and  the  causes  of 
them,  so  that  when  occasion  arises  he  can  lay  his  finger  upon  the 
point  of  weakness  and  say  with  confidence,  "  Here  and  here 
thou  ailest."  But  he  will  endeavour  also  to  learn  wherein  lies 
the  strength  of  each  student,  and  to  this  quest  he  will  devote  not 
less  attention  than  to  the  discovery  of  his  failings. 

(2)  Correction  should  be  constructive.  This  is  a  corollary 
from  the  definition.  Correction,  like  every  other  part  of  com- 
Correction  position  work,  should  primarily  aim  at  develop- 
Deveiop,  not  ment.  It  should  build  up,  not  tear  down.  It  has, 
Repress.  j.^  y^^  ^^x^,  a  negative  side,  which  must  not  be  left 

out  of  the  account.  Thus,  if  its  immediate  object  is  to  check 
and  repress  a  wrong  tendency,  it  may  take  the  form  of  rebuke. 
Sometimes  the  only  way  to  unseal  the  eyes  of  a  pupil  who  is  in 
love  with  his  own  faults  is  by  means  of  irony.  But  correction 
should  not  stop  with  these  negative  results.     Its  ultimate  aim 


\ 


ESSA  Y-CORRECTING  337 

should  be  the  development,  not  the  repression,  of  the  student's 
powers. 

To  be  truly  constructive,  correction  should  be  stimulating  and 
suggestive.  It  should  stir  the  pupil's  thought,  give  him  some- 
thing definite  to  reflect  upon,  set  a  problem  for  him  to  solve. 
Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  good  correction  will  promote  origi- 
nality and  spontaneity.  It  will  widen  the  pupil's  intellectual 
horizon  and  rouse  his  dormant  faculties.  It  will  remind  him  of 
knowledge  already  acquired,  pique  his  curiosity,  and  stir  his 
ambition  to  acquire  fresh  knowledge.  There  are  a  hundred 
ways  in  which  this  end  can  be  attained.  To  take  a  single  illus- 
tration, the  alert  teacher  will  often  make  use  of  apt  reference  to 
literature.  By  this  means  a  commonplace  correction  can  often 
be  reanimated.  For  example,  suppose  the  word  *•'  transpire  "  to 
have  been  wrongly  used  in  the  sense  of  "  happen."  Correction  of 
the  error  may  be  made  in  two  different  ways.  The  unsugges- 
tive  way  is  to  put  an  abbreviation  or  question-mark  in  the 
margin.  A  suggestive  and  thought-provoking  way  is  to  write 
there  :  "  See  Lowell's  Letters,  Vol.  II.  p.  47."  The  student  on 
turning  to  the  citation  reads  as  follows  :  — 

TO    T.    B.    ALDRICH. 

Mv  DEAR  Aldrich  :  —  It  is  a  capital  little  book  —  but  I  had 
read  it  all  before,  and  liked  it  thoroughly.  I  think  it  is  whole- 
some, interesting,  and  above  all  natural.  The  only  quarrel  I 
have  with  you  is  that  I  found  in  it  the  infamous  word  '■  tran- 
spired." E-pluribus-unum  it !  Why  not  "  happened  "  ?  You 
are  on  the  very  brink  of  the  pit. 

By  a  reference  of  this  kind  not  only  is  the  student's  attention 
so  fixed  upon  the  error  that  he  is  not  likely  to  forget  it,  but  by 
the  very  process  of  correction  he  is  introduced  to  an  entertain- 
ing collection  of  letters  which  some  day  he  may  wish  to  read. 
The  teacher  of  composition  should  have  in  his  mind,  or  at  his 
elbow  in  a  card  catalogue,  hundreds  of  such  references,  cover- 
ing all  cases  of  words  commonly  misused  by  his  students.  Is  he 
fond  of  Shakspere  ?     What  task  could  be  more  pleasant  than  to 


338  ESSA  Y-CORRECTING 

collect  from  Shakspere's  writings  striking  examples  of  such 
words?  Does  he  wish  his  pupils  to  read  Tennyson  and  to 
commit  to  memory  extracts  from  his  poems  ?  How  better  ac- 
complish this  end  than  by  sending  them  to  the  poems  to  note 
Tennyson's  use  of  common  words?  So  with  the  larger  ele- 
ments of  discourse.  If  the  pupil's  description  is  weak  or  in 
bad  taste,  direct  him  to  something  on  the  same  subject  in  Haw- 
thorne, in  Irving,  or  in  Defoe.  Such  reading  as  this  comes 
home  to  the  pupil,  sticks  in  his  memory,  and  gradually  forms 
within  his  mind  a  standard  for  self-criticism. 

It  should  be  superfluous  to  add  that  all  constructive  correc- 
tion is  given  in  a  kindly  and  helpful  spirit.     This  means  that 

the  teacher  must  not  only  have  a  general  interest  in 
A  Kindly 
Spirit  the  welfare  of  the  student,  but  a  close  sympathy 

l?6CCSSflrYT 

with  his  aims,  his  struggles,  his  failures,  and  his  small 
successes.  It  is  not  by  any  means  necessary,  as  some  teachers 
seem  to  think,  that  this  sympathy  should  be  sentimental  and 
gushing.  It  may,  on  the  contrary,  find  expression  in  words  that 
are  sharp  and  caustic,  provided  only  there  is  about  them  that 
indefinable  something  which  assures  the  student  that  in  his 
teacher  he  has  a  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend. 

(3)    In  the  third  place,  correction  should  be  rational.     This 
means  that  the  teacher  of  composition  should  have  not  only 

sympathy  and  good  taste,  but  also  knowledge.  He 
should  be         should  be  SO  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  underlying 

principles  of  rhetoric  that  whenever  need  arises  he 
can  give  a  reason,  where  a  reason  is  possible,  for  the  faith  that 
is  within  him.  In  this  regard  teachers  of  composition  are  not 
as  a  body  so  well  informed  as  is  desirable.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  any  great  number  of  teachers  even  in  the  universities 
have  kept  track  of  the  advance  of  rhetorical  theory,  are  prepared, 
for  instance,  to  say  just  what  additions  to  the  knowledge  of 
rhetorical  effects  have  been  made  by  recent  investigations  in 
psychology,  ethics,  sociology,  and  aesthetics.  For  this  they 
are  not  wholly  to  blame.  Unlike  teachers  of  physics,  of  modern 
languages,  of  biology,  and  of  other  studies  that  could  be  named, 


ESSA  Y-CORRECTIXG  339 

teachers  of  rhetoric  have  as  yet  no  technical  journal  in  which  by 
the  recording  of  investigation  and  the  exchange  of  opinion  the 
chaff  can  be  separated  from  the  wheat.  Much,  however,  can 
be  gained  from  books.  Teachers  ought  at  least  to  push  their 
studies  far  enough  to  distinguish  between  slipshod  work  like  that 
of  Richard  Grant  White,  in  certain  of  his  writings,  and  the 
editor  of  the  ]"erhalist,  and  scientific  work  like  that  of  Paul  and 
Kellner  and  Jespersen,  They  should  be  sufficiently  enlightened 
not  to  assume  before  the  dictionary  the  attitude  of  the  savage 
in  the  presence  of  his  fetich.  The  time  is  coming  when  every 
teacher  of  rhetoric  and  composition  will  be  expected  to  know 
something  about  the  history  of  rhetorical  theory  and  the  present 
status  of  unsettled  problems.  Lacking  such  knowledge,  the 
teacher  in  his  correction  is  apt  to  be  arbitrary,  inconsistent,  and 
hypercritical. 

(4)  In  the  fourth  place,  correction  should  be  systematic.    The 
teacher  may  advisedly  put  himself  in  the  attitude  of  the  physi- 
cian.    Having  diagnosed  the  case  of  a  pupil  who   y^^g  ^^ 
comes  under  his  charge,  he  should  lay  out  the  course   System. 

of  treatment  and  forecast  the  outcome.  Such  correction  as  is 
made  should  then  be  made  with  reference  to  this  end.  It  is  an 
excellent  plan  to  keep  such  a  brief  record  of  the  pupil's  case  as 
physicians  are  wont  to  keep  of  their  patients,  noting  therein  the 
results  of  the  correction.  If  the  pupil's  rhetorical  health  does 
not  improve  under  treatment,  a  systematic  effort  should  be  made 
to  discover  and  to  eradicate  the  cause  of  his  disease. 

Unsystematic  correction  is  not  only  futile  in  a  majority  of 
cases ;  it  also  wastes  the  teacher's  time.  Not  every  fault  in 
every  essay  needs  to  be  corrected.  It  is  sometimes  best  to 
concentrate  attention  for  a  time  upon  one  or  two  essentials. 
Not  infrequently  in  the  case  of  work  which  is  manifestly  crude 
and  defective  the  most  helpful  correction  which  the  teacher  can 
give  is  to  write  at  the  end  of  the  composition,  "  Good  !  keep 
at  it." 

(5)  Last,  and  most  important  of  all,  the  teacher  in  his  cor- 
rection should  exercise  cofnmon  sense.     This  is  the  saving  grace, 


340  ESSA  Y-CORRECTIXG 

the  crowning  virtue  in  every  department  of  instruction  ;  but  it 
is  of  especial  worth  in  the  department  of  composition.     Judi- 
ciously exercised,  it  will  save  the  teacher  from  the 
of  Common       besetting  sins  of  narrowness  and  dogmatism.    It  will 
^^^'  also  absolve  him  from  the  solemn  reproach  of  know- 

ing too  much  about  his  subject.  How  any  teacher  can  know 
too  much  about  his  own  business  is  difficult  to  understand,  but  it 
may  easily  happen  that  a  well-equipped  teacher  of  composition 
will  make  a  foolish  use  of  his  rhetorical  learning,  just  as,  if  he 
were  ignorant,  he  would  make  a  foolish  use  of  his  ignorance. 
Says  Mr.  Balfour,  in  one  of  his  entertaining  addresses  :  "  It  is 
true,  no  doubt,  that  many  learned  people  are  dull ;  but  there  is 
no  indication  whatever  that  they  are  dull  because  they  are 
learned.  True  dulness  is  seldom  acquired  ;  it  is  a  natural  grace, 
the  manifestations  of  which,  however  modified  by  education, 
remain  in  substance  the  same.  Fill  a  dull  man  to  the  brim  with 
knowledge,  and  he  will  not  become  less  dull,  as  the  enthusiasts 
for  education  vainly  imagine,  but  neither  will  he  become  duller." 
Speaking  in  the  same  spirit,  we  may  say  that  although  many 
learned  teachers  of  rhetoric  have  been  failures,  there  is  slight 
evidence  to  prove  that  they  failed  because  they  were  learned. 
All  that  was  needed  was  the  exercise  of  a  little  common  sense. 
An  endeavour  has  now  been  made  to  sketch  in  broad  outlines 
the  purpose  and  the  essential  characteristics  of  good  correction. 
Correctton  ^"^  remains  to  inquire  whether  correction  with  such 
caUy^m^^  an  aim  and  of  such  a  nature  is  inherently  and  in- 
agreeabie.  evitably  disagreeable.  The  opinion  will  here  be 
stoutly  maintained  that  it  is  not.  On  the  contrary,  pursued  in 
the  right  way,  the  correction  of  essays  may  be  as  pleasing  and 
as  profitable  as  any  pedagogical  procedure  that  can  be  men- 
tioned. Why  is  any  kind  or  part  of  teaching  attractive? 
Because,  primarily,  it  gives  an  opportunity  to  exercise  special 
aptitude  and  training  for  the  benefit  of  society  ;  secondly,  be- 
cause it  enables  the  teacher  to  promote  his  scholarship,  to  cul- 
tivate his  tastes,  to  build  up  his  character,  to  broaden  and  deepen 
his  views  of  things.     Now  the  correction  of  essays,  commonly 


ESS  A  Y-CORRECTING  34 1 

deemed  so  trivial,  so  burdensome,  so  wasteful  of  the  mental 
energies,  gives  opportunity  to  him  who  knows  how  to  seize  it, 
for  the  attainment  of  all  these  ends.  Has  the  teacher  a  native 
gift,  a  special  aptitude  for  correction?  Here  is  his  supreme 
chance  in  life.  Let  him  not  throw  it  away.  And  it  is  no  small 
gift.  The  power  to  help  others  in  acquiring  a  mastery  of  their 
native  speech  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  valuable  in  the 
whole  circle  of  pedagogical  equipment. 

Does  the  teacher  desire  to  cultivate  his  scholarship  ?     The 
way  is  open.     If  his  interest  is  in  literature  he  may  so  shape  his 
methods  of  correction  that  the  ransacking  of  any 
given  field  of  poetry  or  prose  will  be  unescapable.    Means  to 
If  he  desires  to  pursue  the  study  of  psychology,  he 
should  know  that  the  psychology  of  language  processes  is  one 
of  the  most  fascinating  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  profitable  of 
modern  lines  of  research  in  this  field.    If  he  is  interested,  as  he 
ought  to  be,  in  the  reconstruction  now  going  on  of  the  science 
of  rhetoric,  the  opportunity  is  all  that  could  be  asked  for.     The 
written  work  of  the  pupils  in  the  secondary  schools  constitutes 
precisely  the  material  needed  for  investigation  in  this  subject. 

Finally,  that  correction  carried  on  in  the  manner  and  spirit 
here  indicated  is  a  cultivating,  liberalizing,  and  character- 
building  process,  need  not  be  argued  at  length.     It 

1  .  r  ,  ,  ■     ,       ^   Correction 

is  surely  not   gomg  too  far  to   say  that   a  kmd   of  may  be  a  Joy 

teaching  which  brings  the  instructor  into  so  vital  and 
intimate  relations  with  his  pupils,  which    calls  for  so  great  an 
exercise  of  sympathy,  insight,  and  moral  influence,  can  compete 
in  these  respects  with  other  departments  of  instruction. 

We  may  then  briefly  draw  the  conclusion  that  essay-correct- 
ing, when  there  is  not  too  much  of  it,  when  one  has  special 
aptitude  and  training  for  it,  when  its  true  purpose  and  essential 
character  are  understood,  is  not  intrinsically  disagreeable.  It 
may  in  a  true  sense  become  a  joy  forever. 


./ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.   General  References 

Alton,  Geo.  B.  The  Purpose  of  English  in  the  High  School.  A  paper 
read  before  the  Michigan  Schoolmasters'  Club,  Ann  Arbor,  Novem- 
ber, 1S96.     Reprinted  from  the  School  Review  for  March,  1S97. 

Allen,  Edward  A.  Academy  (Syracuse)  4:  i  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
the  Study  of  English. 

Alvey,  R.  H.     Academy  (Syracuse)  7  :  19    English  in  the  Public  Schools. 

Bain,  A.  Education  as  a  Science.  New  York :  1S79.  Appleton. 
Pp.  166,  168,  230,  350-353,  392     Rhetoric;  pp.  334-357     Literature. 

On   Teaching   English.      London :      1887.     Longmans.     Reviewed 

in  London  Journal  of  Education  9:  272. 

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23 


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\ 


INDEX 


Allusions,  literary,  167-168,  253. 
Alphabet  method,  98,  107,  108. 
Analytic  method  of  teaching  read- 

hig,  103,  10S-112. 
Anglo-Saxon,  20,  215-21S. 
Anomalous  forms,  107,  iii,  112. 
Assignment,   philosophy   of,    319- 

326. 

"  Bad"  English,  225. 
Bible,  the,  in  schools,  96,  97. 
Biography,  literary,  179,  281. 

Character,  study  of,  in  literature, 

260-261. 
Classics  vers  us  school-readers,  184- 

1S7. 
College     entrance      requirements, 

2S3-292. 
Common  sense,  value  of,  in  theme 

correcting,  339,  340. 
Communication    and     expression, 

324.  325- 

Comparative  literature,  318. 

Composition,  aims  in  teaching,  123, 
124,  334;  and  literature,  137,  138, 
235,  236;  in  secondary  schools, 
218-244;  oral,  127,  244,  245; 
subjects  for,  124-130,  "133-138, 
233-239,  320-323 ;  text-books  in, 
141. 

Correction  of  themes,  142-144, 
242-244,  314,  315,  327-341  ;  im- 
promptu, 315,  note. 

Correlation  of  studies,  136,  137, 
177-179. 


Course  of  study  in   English,  293- 

302. 
Critical  study  of  literature,  174-176, 

255-258,  278- 2S1. 
Curriculum,  modern,  69-71. 

Declamation,  247. 

Diagrams  of  sentences,  149,  204. 

Dialect,  55. 

Dictation,  12S. 

Discipline,  value  of,  78,  79. 

Drama,  study  of,  276-278. 

Drill,  in  grammar,   148,    202-204  > 

in  phonetics,  loi,  102,  no,  iii; 

in  spelling,  153. 

Elementary  schools,  the  teach- 
ing of  English  in :  alphabet 
method,  98 ;  analytic  method, 
103,  no;  beginnings  of  reading, 
9S-120;  composition,  aims  in 
teaching,  123,  124  ;  compositions, 
correction  of,  142-144;  composi- 
tion exercises,  127-135;  com- 
position subjects,  124-127 ; 
course  of  study,  293-300 ;  gen- 
eral conditions,  6S-75 ;  grammar, 
144-152;  literature  and  composi- 
tion, 137-140 ;  literature,  its 
place  and  its  value,  155-163; 
literature,  the  teaching  of,  164- 
187;  methods,  sentence  and 
word,  108 ;  models,  use  of,  135, 
136;  oral  work,  112-114,  118, 
119;  phonetics,  100-102,  109- 
113;    place   of  English,   75-81; 


378 


INDEX 


primary  reading,  81-98  ;  reading 
aloud,   118,  119;    spelling,  152- 

155- 

Elocution,  246. 

England,  teaching  of  English  in, 
26-30. 

English,  a  single  subject,  139-141, 
i83 ;  essential  elements,  189; 
irregularities  of,  107,  iii,  112; 
Old  and  Middle,  20,  215-218; 
schoolmaster's,  309 ;  self-culti- 
vation in,  309 ;  teaching  of,  in 
England,  26-30;  in  the  United 
States,  37-52 ;  see  Elementary 
schools,  Secondary  schools. 

Essay-correction,  327-341. 

Essays,  the  study  of,  269-271. 

Etymology,  212,  213. 

Expression     and     communication, 

324.  325- 
Expression   in   reading,    114,    115, 
118,  119. 

Fables,  94,  95. 
Fairy  stories,  94. 

Foreign  influences  in  the  schools, 
11^  74- 

German  school-readers,  early,  83- 
86. 

German,  teaching  of,  in  Germany, 
31-36,   82-86,   99-103. 

Grammar,  beginnings  of,  146,  147  ; 
how  much,  150,  151,  201-204, 
206,  211,  212;  in  the  elementary 
schools,  144-152;  in  the  second- 
ary schools,  190-214;  methods 
of  teaching,  146-149,  198-212; 
purpose  of,  145,  146,  191-198; 
text-books  of,  151  ;  teacher's 
equipment  in,  316,  317. 

History  of  literature,  2S2. 

Idioms,  foreign,  73,  74. 
Illustrative  material,  170-172,  376. 
Imagination,    appeal    to,    76,    77, 


79,  80,  91-96,  160,  161,  169-172, 

324- 
Interest,  arousal  of,  323,  324 ;  im- 
portance of,  77,  79,  III. 

Interests,  student,  322,  323. 

Languages,  foreign,  teacher's 
equipment  in,  313. 

Latin,  as  a  linguistic  discipline,  19; 
as  a  part  of  English,  24 ;  in  ed- 
ucation, 9;  in  literature,  7;  in 
modern  education,  16  ;  versus  the 
vernaculars,  5. 

Lesson-plans,  179-182. 

Letter-writing,  127. 

Libraries,  use  of,  184. 

Literary  unity,  76-77,  80. 

Literature  and  composition,  their 
relation,  137,  13S,  235-239. 

Literature  and  science,  157. 

Literature,  as  a  subject  of  study, 
155-157,  164,  166-183;  as  por- 
trayal of  life,  158-160;  compar- 
ative, 318;  for  children,  90-9S  ; 
history  of,  282  ;  its  ethical  in- 
fluence, 162-163;  its  place  in  the 
schools,  155-163  ;  oral,  165-166  ; 
teacher's  equipment  in,  310,  311, 
317.  318 

Method,  alphabet,  98,  107,  108  ; 
analytic,  103,  10S-112;  teaching 
composition,  138,  141-144;  ne- 
cessity of,  179,  180,  27S-2S1  ; 
sentence,  108 ;  word,  loS. 

Models,  use  of,  135,  136. 

Modern  school-readers,  90. 

New  England  Primer,  86-89. 

Nonsense  rhymes,  91. 

"  Normal  "  words   and   sentences, 

115,  116. 
Novel,  development   of,  257,  259; 

study    of,    259-26S;    historical, 

264-266. 

Old  and  Middle  English.  20,  215- 
218, 


INDEX 


379 


Old  English,  teacher's  equipment 

in,  l^Z- 
Oral  composition,  244-249. 
Oral  work,  importance  of,  99-104, 

109-115,  iiS,  119,  127. 
Outlines  in  composition  work,  132- 

I34. 

Paragraph    structure,  study  of, 

131-  132- 
Paraphrasing,  129,  237-239. 
Parsing  and  analysis,  149,  203,  204. 
Personality  in  literature,  254-257, 

263,  264. 
Phonetics,  emphasis  upon,  99-102, 

104,  109-114. 
Pictures   for   schools,   dealers    in, 

375;  use  and  value  of,  105,  126, 

170-172. 
Poetry,  for  children,  97  ;  the  teach- 
ing of,  271-281. 
Primary    reading    matter,    81-98; 

development  of,  81-98. 
Primer,  New  England,  S6-89. 
Primers,  early  German,  83,  84. 
Primitive  life,  literature  of,  93. 

Readers,  school.  See  Primary 
reading  matter. 

Reading  aloud,  118,  119,  248  ;  ap- 
preciative and  critical,  310; 
courses  of,  311  ;  rapid,  120,  183. 

Reproduction  of  stories,  129. 

Rhetoric,  advanced  study  of,  315, 
316;  in  secondary  schools,  218- 
244. 

School  readers.  See  Classics  ver- 
sus school  readers;  Literature 
for  children ;  and  Primary  read- 
ing matter. 

Script,  116,  117. 

Secondary  schools,  teaching  of 
English  in  :  "  bad  "  English,  225 ; 
college  entrance  requirements, 
283-292 ;  correction  of  essays, 
242-244, 314, 315, 3-7-341;  course 


of  study,  300-302  ;  critical  study 
of  literature,  255-258,  278-281  ; 
declamation,  247  ;  drama,  study 
of  the,  276-27S ;  elocution,  246 ; 
essay,  study  of  the,  269;  etymol- 
ogy, 212;  grammar,  190-214;  his- 
tory of  literature,  282 ;  literary 
allusions,  253 ;  literary  interpreta- 
tion, 261  ;  literary  structure,  253; 
method,  the  question  of,  278 ; 
novel,  study  of,  259-268 ;  Old 
and  Middle  English,  215;  oral 
composition,  244 ;  paraphrasing, 
237;  parsing  and  analysis,  203; 
poetry,  the  study  of,  271  ;  read- 
ing aloud,  248 ;  rhetoric  and 
English  composition,  218;  style, 
232,  270  ;  synonyms,  229  ;  trans- 
lation, 233;  verse-writing,  240; 
word  study,  252. 

Sentence  method,  108. 

Sentence  structure,  study  of,  130, 

131- 

Spelling,  152-155. 

Structure   of  sentences,  130,  131  ; 

literary,  172-174,  253,  260. 
Style,  232,  270,  271. 
Subjects    for   composition,  choice 

of,    124-130,    133-138.     233-239, 

320-323- 
Sympathy,  value  of,  324. 
Synonyms,  229. 

Teachers,  training  of,   72,  305- 

318. 
Teaching  of  reading,  first  steps  in, 

109-116;  history  of,  98-106. 
Transcription,  128. 
Translation,  233. 

United  States,  teaching  of  Eng- 
lish in,  37-52. 

Unity,  literary  and  scientific,  76, 
78,  80. 

Vernaculars,  general  theory  of 
instruction  in,  52-66;  in  educa- 


38o 


INDEX 


tion,   9;    in   modern   education, 
i6;  teaching  of  in  Europe,  26; 
teaching  of,  in  the  United  States, 
37-52. 
Verse-writing,  240. 


Webster  Speller,  89. 
Word  method,  loS. 
Words,  the  study  of,  167,  212,  213, 
252,  253. 


APPENDIX 


DEALERS  IN  PHOTOGBAPHS  AND   PRINTS. 

New  York.  The  Cosmos  Pictures  Co.,  129  Broadway. 
Pictures  at  two  and  one-half  cents  each. 

The  Helman-Taylor  Art  Co.,  257  Fifth  Avenue.  Publishers 
of  Harper's  black  and  white  prints,  at  one  cent  each. 

The  Perr}'  Pictures  Co.,  76  Fifth  Avenue.  Pictures  at  one 
cent  each. 

Alfred  Hart,  219  West  109th  Street.  Small  blue  prints  at 
one  cent   each. 

The  J.  C.  Witter  Co.,  123  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  Berlin  Photographic  Co.,  14  East  23d  Street. 

Brown  Clement  &  Co.,  249  Fifth  Avenue. 

Frank  Hegger,  288  Fifth  Avenue. 

George  Busse,  12  West  28th  Street. 

A.  W.  Elson  &  Co.,  14  West  29th  Street. 

Boston.     Soule  Photograph  Co.,  338  Washington  Street. 

Philadelphia.  London  Art  Publishers,  1624  Chestnut 
Street. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Earl  Thompson  &  Co.  Blue  prints,  one 
cent  each. 

Leipzig,  Germax\'.  Wachsmuth,  publisher  of  colored  prints 
representing  stages  in  the  development  of  civilization,  and  of 
other  pictures  for  use  in  schools. 

Voigtlander,  dealer  in  school  pictures. 

Teubner,  publisher.     School  pictures. 


13  9  8  8  4 


U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDbSM33fl7D 


